Thinking of You
by TheCullenRose
Summary: Bella returns to New York two years after her mysterious disappearance. Edward tries to correct his big mistake, but Bella doesn't come back single. All Human
1. Prologue

"Edward, I just can't do this anymore, we're done!" Bella shouted as she grabbed her bags and stormed out the door, slamming it behind her. Edward threw the door back open and ran to catch up with her, yelling her name.

"Bella, wait! You need to give me time to explain! It was a mistake, all a mistake, please just give me one more chance!"

"I've given you enough chances, Edward, this is over. We're over," and with that said, she ran out the door and hailed a taxi. Then Edward watched the love of his life speed away from him, knowing he may never see her again.

**Author's Note: Hey, sorry it was so short, but I need to know if you guys would be interested in reading this story before I do any more with it. Please review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: unfortunately, I own absolutely nothing, so don't sue**

I got off the plane, grabbed my luggage, and then stopped for a minute to allow everything to soak in. Here I was, back in the place I had left two years ago; New York City. I knew one thing for sure, that I would soon have to confront the one person that I didn't want to see, that I had left in such a hurry. Edward Anthony Masen, the love of my life. Or at least, he used to be.

I didn't allow myself to dwell on that subject though; I had too much to worry about already. I'd think about it later. Much later.

As I walked through the terminal, I saw someone unexpected standing there, well, more like bouncing there.

"Alice!" I cried, so excited to see my best friend, who I had seen last before I left.

"Bella, you're here! You're really here!" Alice squealed, "It has been way too long!"

"I know, I know. I'm so excited to see you! I've missed you so much! What's happened since I've been gone, you have to tell me everything!"

"Well," Alice started, "first you need to tell me where your new apartment is, so we can get your stuff there. We'll talk on the way."

"Ok," I said, and I followed Alice out to a bright yellow Porsche. I got in, and directed Alice to my apartment. This was going to be a very interesting ride.

"So," Alice began, "how's your love life?"

Of course that would be the first thing she asks, I should have seen that one coming_._ "Well, what do you want me to tell you specifically?"

"You could start by telling me your current status, and if you have a special someone you could always tell me his name. And what he looks like. You know, just the basics." She smiled as she finished, and then waited for my reply.

"I happen to have a boyfriend," I started, and she started bouncing in her seat, "and his name is James. He's about six foot, with hazel eyes and dark blond hair. He is really sweet, and he is going to the same college as me."

Alice sat for a moment, seeming to be thinking about something. "Well, I don't really think Edward will be very happy when he finds that out. He's been hoping you would come back to him, you know." I gave her a dirty look.

"First of all, I don't really feel like talking about _him_," I said, refusing to say his name, "and second of all, I honestly do not care what will and won't make him happy. He made his choice two years ago; it's too late to regret that decision now." Alice frowned, clearly not liking my response.

"I guess if that's how you want it, that's how it will be. I don't like it, you know. I really think that you should forgive him, you guys belong together."

"Maybe that was true before," I replied, "but it definitely isn't now." We pulled up to my apartment, and I jumped out of the car, thankful for the excuse to stop talking about things that belonged in the past. I grabbed a bunch of boxes, and so did she and I led her up to my new apartment in silence. We quickly finished getting my things from the car, and Alice sat on my couch while I unpacked my necessities.

I decided to break the silence. "So, how has it been going between you and Jasper?" I asked. She waved her left hand at me, and I was confused for a moment, thinking that she didn't want to talk to me. Then I saw something sparkle, and I flew over to her, grabbing her hand.

"Alice! How could you not tell me?" I asked, staring at her beautiful engagement ring. I was shocked that she hadn't told me, and that I hadn't noticed before.

"Well, I wanted to know what was going on with you first, and I figured I'd just tell you about it later," she said with a smile, seeming happy that I was suddenly so excited. She patted the cushion next to her, and I sat down and listened to the story of her and Jazzy's engagement.

**Author's Note: hey you guys, sorry I stopped there, but I have no idea how these things go, so I decided to leave it at that. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hey, sorry it's taken so long, I've been unbelievably busy. Here's a new chapter! By the way, you should definitely read the story Heartbreak, Rain, and Cheese by AllyNikki, it's amazing!**

After hearing the absolutely adorable story of Alice and Jasper's engagement, Alice decided that it was time for her to go. I walked her out to her car, then jogged back up to my apartment and plopped down onto the couch. I sat there for a few minutes, all stretched out, just thinking. I realized that if I hadn't left, it would me and Edward telling the story of our engagement to our excited friends, not the other way around. Shaking my head to expel all thoughts of Edward, I picked up my cell and called James.

He answered with the same greeting as always, "Hey baby, how's it going?"

I told him it was going good, and asked him to come visit me for awhile. He agreed enthusiastically, saying he'd be right over. I waited for about ten minutes, and then heard a knock on my door. I got up and let him in.

"Nice apartment," he commented, walking in and sitting on the couch. He patted the spot next to him, so I sat. We sat in silence for a few seconds, as I tried to figure out something to say.

"Hey," I began, "do you want to watch a movie?" I knew it sounded kind of boring, inviting him and then randomly asking him to watch a movie, but I had no clue what else to do. I knew he was expecting something else when he came over, but I still wasn't ready for that step. He had been trying to convince me for awhile, but I kept saying no.

"Ok," he replied, sounding kind of disappointed, and I got up to grab the box with my movies. Luckily I had unpacked most of my other stuff earlier, including the TV and DVD player. I grabbed some random action film, put it in, and got comfortable next to him. He put his arm around me and pulled me into his side. As we sat watching the movie, I let my mind wander. I was still trying to figure out why I wasn't quite comfortable with him touching me. I mean, there was no obvious reason. I just felt weird with any kind of physical contact with him.

I sat contemplating it for awhile, and then it clicked. I knew why, and I didn't like the reason. I realized that even after two years, I still wasn't over Edward.

James shifted, yanking me out of my thoughts. I looked at the TV and was shocked to see the end credits rolling. I looked back at James, and he looked at me for a minute. Then, he leaned in and started kissing me. After a few minutes, he started to lay me back onto the couch, but I stopped him. "James, I think you should go, it's getting late and I've got to go to the studio early tomorrow to work on laying down the vocals for a new song."

He groaned, and stood up, grabbing his coat and putting his shoes on. "Bella, are you ever going to do anything with me? I am a guy you know, and I have needs. Anyways, you know you want to. Just stop thinking and do it!"

"I'm sorry," I replied, "I'm just really tired from all the unpacking, maybe some other time." I held open the door, and he walked out with a pissed look on his face.

I closed the door behind him and sank to the ground, relieved that he left without any more arguing. Usually he pushed a little more before he left. I got back up and walked over to my desk, sitting down with a notepad and a pen. I started writing furiously, the words rushing from my head onto the paper. After about an hour, I had the lyrics finished. Now all I needed was the music for the instruments, and I had a new song for my next album.

I decided that it was too late to do any more, so a got up and put on shorts and a tank top. Just as I was crawling into bed, I heard a knock on the door. I got back up with a sigh and opened it. A familiar pair of green eyes looked down at me, and a musical voice said, "Hello Bella, can I come in?"

**Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry to end it there, but I needed to cut it off somewhere. Please review; I would love some constructive criticism, and maybe a few ideas. Just please be kinda nice, if you absolutely hate it than just don't read it. I'll try to post a new chapter as soon as I can, but that might not be until spring break, it depends on how long it takes for me to get more inspiration. Thanks for your guys' reviews so far!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I found more inspiration, so here's my new chapter**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

I stood there in shock for a few minutes, so Edward repeated his question, "May I come in?" I opened the door wider, allowing him in. My mind was flooded with thoughts, all I could do was stare stupidly. He finally broke the silence.

"So, I like your apartment. How long have you been staying here?" I was shocked Alice hadn't talked to him yet.

"I just got here earlier this afternoon, Alice picked me up from the airport and helped me bring my stuff in." I replied simply.

"That explains all of the boxes," he said, almost awkwardly. It became quiet again.

"So," I inquired, "why are you here? How did you find my apartment?"

"I'm here because it's been two years Bella. Two years of unanswered calls, no replies to the emails I send. I've been trying to get a hold of you, to make sure you're ok, and to explain what happened."

"Well Edward, I'm not interested in your explanations, and as you can see I am perfectly fine. I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate you being here, so you should probably leave." I said, trying to stay calm and not completely blow up at him. I guess I was still more upset than I had realized. I saw the pain in his eyes when I mentioned James, and I felt a sense of pleasure since karma had come back around to bite him in the ass. He still hadn't gotten what he deserved, but this was a start.

"Boyfriend? That's interesting, what's his name?" I could tell that he was just trying to act indifferent. I knew the idea of me having someone else bothered him a lot, but it was his fault for doing what he did.

"James Martin," I said with a smug smirk, knowing that that would hurt him even more. James was his worst enemy, but used to be his best friend.

**Background Story:**

Back before Edward and I were dating, he was infatuated with a girl named Victoria. He and James were best friends at the time, they had grown up together. One day, Edward decided to surprise Victoria, so he stopped by her house without calling first. He opened the door and found James and Victoria in a very compromising position on the living room sofa. From then on, Edward hated James.

**End of Background Story.**

"Wow Bella, low blow," he said, still trying to keep up the uncaring façade, "you hurt my feelings so bad." He added sarcastically.

That pissed me off. "I'm not too concerned about your feelings, since you obviously weren't concerned about mine. You are pissing me off, so you should probably leave before I kick your ass." I said, still trying to keep myself under control.

"Ooh, I'm so scared, little Bella is going to beat me up! Oh no, what should I do?" he said, completing the process of pissing me off. I kicked him in between the legs as hard as I could. He crumpled to the floor.

"And that, asshole, is what happens when you piss me off. Are you ready to leave yet, or do you want more where that came from?" He got up without answering and walked out the door with a slight limp, holding himself completely straight, trying to keep a shred of pride. I made sure to hit him with the door on his way out.

I stormed off to my bedroom, still furious. I lay back on my bed and turned on my radio, trying to calm myself down. Eventually I started to feel kind of bad. I mean, he was being a jerk, but not bad enough that I should've done what I did. All of the sudden, I heard another knock on my door. I groaned, and then jumped up to let whoever it was in.

I opened the door, and squealed when I saw who was there. "Jacob!" I wrapped my arms around his waist and looked up at him. He was really tall, and my neck got a cramp from stretching so far.

"Hey Bells," he said with a smile, picking me up and twirling me around.

"Hey, put me down!" I said, laughing. He put me down, and I led him over to the couch to sit down.

"So, what happened tonight?" he asked. I was confused for a minute.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you opened the door you looked extremely annoyed, so I was just curious."

"Oh, yeah," I said, and then I told him about Edward's visit. He looked furious at first, but when I got to the part about kicking him in between the legs, he chuckled, and his fists came unclenched.

"Good job Bells," he said, "I can see I taught you well." I punched his shoulder.

"You didn't teach me anything Jake; I've always been this amazing. I guess I was just born with it." I said jokingly.

"Oh yeah Bells, you're amazing all right," he replied sarcastically.

"So," I said, trying to change the topic since this type of thing always led to him teasing me, "what's been going on with you lately? How are Leah and the baby?"

"Well, Leah is doing pretty well, and the baby is a boy," he said, and I squealed.

"Yay! I'm gonna have a nephew!" I said excitedly. **(In case you haven't figured it out, Jacob and Bella are sister and brother.) **

"I also just got a new job. I am now the sports writer for the New York Times." He said, sounding very happy.

"That's awesome Jake, I know you've wanted that job for awhile!" I said excitedly.

"So, are the rumors true?" he asked, "Are you working on a new album?"

"Yep," I replied, "wanna hear what I've got so far?" he nodded, so I put in a CD with some of the new songs on it, and hit play. I had just finished the first song on the CD. It was called 'I'm Still Breathing', and so far it was my favorite song on the album. The one I was working on would be even better though, I could feel it. After the song was over, Jake stayed quiet for a minute, thinking.

"Bella," he said, his voice sounding very serious, "are you going to break up with James?" I sighed; I had hoped he wouldn't figure out my reason behind writing it.

"Probably," I said, deciding to be honest.

"Why? I mean, what happened?"

"I don't know, it's complicated. Kinda."

"I think I can keep up."

"Fine. Well, I mean, I don't know. It's just, I don't feel quite comfortable around him, and he keeps pushing me to do things that I don't want to do. Another big reason is that I just can't make myself feel anything for him. I tried, but I just can't."

"Well, I guess that is as good of a reason as any. I never really liked him in the first place, and I don't really appreciate the idea of anyone pushing you to do anything like that that you don't want to do," he said, and he did look kinda pissed about the fact that James was pushing me to do that sort of thing, I probably shouldn't have told him about that. Oh well.

"Yeah," I said, "I kinda figured you didn't like him much with all those dirty looks you always gave him."

"Yeah. So, do you need me to be there when you break the news to him, or will you be ok on your own?"

"Jake, I'll be fine, I promise," I said, smiling. I never had to wonder whether or not my big brother loved me, I could always tell because of how protective he always was.

"Alright Bells, I figured you would be. If he gives you any trouble, let me know. I will annihilate him if he hurts you," he added, and I knew that he wasn't joking.

"I know, big brother, that's why I love you so much!" I said playfully, and he smiled.

"Well, I better get home, I told Leah I'd be there by 8:30 and it's 8:12. Bye sis," he said, not looking happy about the fact that he had to leave. I knew that he would rather be home than here though, he loved Leah too much to be away from her for long.

"Bye Jake!" I said, giving him a hug. He let himself out, and I waited for a minute, in case someone else decided to interrupt my plans to sleep. No one knocked, so I crawled into bed and was out the minute my head hit the pillow.

**Author's Note: hey, I decided not to leave you guys with a cliffy because I'm just nice like that. Well, please review!**


	5. Chapter 4

I woke up to the obnoxious sound of my alarm clock. I groaned as I rolled over and turned it off. I knew I wouldn't have to hit snooze once memories of my dream from last night flooded back into my head.

I was in my apartment, and James walked in. He grabbed me and started kissing me, and I tried to pull away, but he held on tight. Suddenly, Edward came in and ripped him off of me. For some reason, Jacob also came in. He grabbed James and dragged him out of the building; I'm not sure where they went. Then, Edward just left. Just like that, with no warning. I'm still pretty confused about the dream.

I shook all memories of the dream out of my head and got up to get ready to go to the studio. I pulled on my ripped jeans, comfy grey hoodie, and my favorite blue polka-dot flip-flops. Then I grabbed my bag and went out to get a taxi. I checked my cell and saw that I had two missed texts. Both of them were from James, asking if I was busy. I ignored them, not wanting to deal with him yet.

Once I got to the studio, I got to meet the people I get to work with. My agent had told me they were the best, and I trusted her. I mean, it was Rosalie after all, who just happens to be one of my best friends.

So anyway, as I walked in I was immediately greeted by a pretty attractive guy who said he was my drummer. Apparently his name is Tyler. After that, I got to meet my new producer, a really quiet girl named Angela. I could tell right away that I would get along with her. Next came Mike, he would be playing the keyboard. He was kinda cute, in that golden retriever kind of way. I could already tell that he would probably get a bit annoying. The person recording my music was Eric, he was a real sweetie. I knew I was going to get along with him too.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the people that Rose chose. Then again, I knew she would do a good job, she always does. All of the sudden she walked in and gave me a big hug.

"Hey Bella! It's great to see you, I've missed you!"

"Hey Rose, what's up?" I asked, excited to see my best friend/ manager.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to make sure that you were introduced to all of your new coworkers and to make sure that you like them." She said as she pulled me into the conference room so no one could hear us talking.

"Well," I started, "I got introduced to everyone, I think. You did a really good job with everyone, they all seem really nice. I'm going to enjoy working with them all, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I was kind of worried about Mike though, he seemed kind of annoying. But," she added, "he was very well qualified for the job, he's one of the best available keyboard players."

"I'm sure he'll be fine, he seemed nice enough, and cute enough."

"Like a golden retriever," Rose added, saying exactly what I'd been thinking. I laughed, and she smiled knowingly. She knows me and how I think very well.

"So," I said, "how has everything been going? How's Emmett?" I asked, referring to her husband, and one of my best friends.

"He's doing great, and everything is going pretty well. Unfortunately for him, I've been really busy lately trying to find new people for you to work with. Still, he's pretty happy. The only thing is, we just got married a few months ago, and he already wants kids! I mean honestly, I'm the manager of a hot new singer, how am I supposed to have time to do my job and take care of a kid? Sometimes I just don't get how he thinks."

"Well," I said, "you could always take a year or two off. Or work from home, something like that." She just looked at me like I had grown another head. I decided to drop it; I knew she would just end up getting annoyed. Everyone that knew Rose knew that she loved her job too much to take time off. We barely convinced her to go on a two week trip to Paris for her honeymoon; we would never be able to convince her to take the time to have a kid.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," she said, "and also, I refuse to get fat! Honestly, I have worked two hours a day, five days a week to get this body; I'm not sacrificing it now. Although, my boobs would get bigger, and we all know Emmett would love that. Also, Emmett has a thing for pregnant women, he would be in heaven." She added, laughing to herself. "Anyway, back to business. Is there anything else you need, or are you ready to start recording that song you were telling me about?"

"I'm good," I said, "I can record any time everyone is ready. And Rose?" I said as she started to walk out the door.

"Yeah Bella?"

"I would really rather not know about Emmett's 'thing' as you put it. Please, for my mental health." I said pleadingly.

She smiled wickedly, "Alright, I guess so. Then I guess you probably don't want to know about what we did over the weekend," she began, and I sprinted out of the room with my hands over my ears. I could hear her laughing behind me.

After a few seconds of running, I managed to find my way to the recording room. After going over the song I wanted to do with everyone, I stepped into the small room and put on the headphones. Eric signaled for me to start, so I did, smiling. I remembered the flashback that had inspired me to write this one.

**Flashback:**

It had been back in the early college days, and Alice, Rose, and I had all been staying in the same dorm. The guys (Jasper, Emmett, and Edward) had decided to throw a party, and us girls got all dressed up and went. You have to realize, before then, we hadn't really even tried alcohol, so we had no clue how it would affect us, but we didn't tell the guys.

Anyway, as the party started, the guys gave us each a drink. Of course we, not being the brightest lights in the sky, decided to drink them and not tell the guys that this was our first time doing so. After the first few, we got kind of tipsy. The guys all wondered what was going on, since they apparently gave us some of the weakest stuff you could get.

Later, everyone started a game of spin the bottle, and we, not thinking about the people we may have to kiss, decided to join in. The first few spins were fine; it was all basically girls kissing their guy friends. Eventually, unfortunately, things got… interesting.

Alice spun, and it landed on Rose. Of course, all of the guys drew in a breath and grinned like idiots, wondering how they had such amazing luck. Unfortunately for them, Alice just quickly pecked Rose on the lips, and it was over. Then a few more people went, and eventually it came time for me to spin.

I was pretty wasted by then, so when the bottle pointed to some girl that I didn't know, I just laughed and decided to give the guys a show. I leaned in really slowly, and then she kissed me. We let it drag out for a little while, the guys all cheering the entire time. After about a minute I pulled away and laughed. She laughed too, and we all went back to playing. Let's just say that my friends never let me forget about it.

The next morning when I woke up with the worst hangover in the history of hangovers and Edward tried to take care of me for awhile, Emmett had to start laughing and teasing me about it. I couldn't remember much about the whole thing, so of course Emmett had to tell me all the gory details.

After listening to the whole thing, I was the color of a tomato, and Edward was annoyed with Emmett so he kicked him out. After Emmett left, Edward reassured me that it was fine, and that it was his fault for giving me so much to drink anyway. He also told me that although anything to do with me was extremely attractive, he would rather that it was him I was kissing, not some unknown girl.

**End of Flashback**

Even though I didn't like thinking about Edward, I still liked to look back and laugh at myself. I also used that memory to remind myself not to get drunk.

_This was never the way I planned_

_Not my intention_

_I got so brave drink in hand_

_Lost my discretion_

_It's not what_

_I'm used to _

_Just wanna try you on_

_I'm curious for you_

_Caught my attention_

**Author's Note: The song I used was I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry. Sorry if you hated the flashback, I just wanted to show you guys some of Bella's good memories with Edward before I get into any bad ones. (I'm not saying that will happen any time soon, I'm just prepping you guys for some time in the future.) Anyway, please review!**


	6. Chapter 5

That night, as I was getting ready for bed, I remembered what had happened on the day that I left New York. The memory caused pain to knife through me, pain that made me feel sick, and I almost collapsed. I knew by how much pain the memory put me through that no, I definitely wasn't over Edward.

**Flashback:**

I walked into the apartment, only to see Edward. And he wasn't alone, oh no. Next to him was a bag of pot and some nasty slut. I could tell that they had smoked it awhile ago, since Edward seemed to snap completely out of his drug-induced haze the minute I walked through the door.

I could tell I must have looked beyond pissed by the terrified look on his face, although the skank obviously wasn't too concerned, since she just smirked when she saw me. I realized that I recognized that red hair. Victoria. I also realized that she hadn't smoked anything. Then, I finally realized that this had been her plan all along.

**Background Story: **

About a year after Edward and I started dating, I realized that he had a drug problem. I remember that there were some days that he would come home acting very strange, and he always smelled really weird. Then, one day, I ended up asking Alice about it.

The minute I brought up my concerns, she looked very angry. Not at me though, which made me wonder. Before Edward, I had never really actually met anyone with a drug problem, so I didn't even suspect it. Alice ended up telling me how back in eighth grade Edward had started experimenting with pot.

That had been back when he was friends with James, and in the first days of going out with Victoria. After a few months, he was addicted. Emmett and Jasper, some of his friends from sports, tried to get him out of it. I was friends with Edward at the time, but the only girl in our group who knew what was going on at the time was Alice, since she had been going out with Jasper. Rose and I were both single at the time, so of course Edward and Emmett never told us.

Anyway, eventually, towards the end of our junior year, Victoria and Edward broke up. A few months later, Edward asked me out. Alice told me that she, Emmett, and Jasper told him that unless he either quit or told me, he couldn't go out with me. He decided to quit, but apparently the whole thing was something he struggled with. I guess the struggle got to be too hard, so he went back to drugs.

So, after Alice told me I was furious. I knew I deserved better than a drug addict, but Edward was what I wanted, and I wasn't willing to give him up. I ended up telling him what Alice had told me, and although he was furious at her, he agreed to give it up again. I told him that if he didn't, I would no longer look at him or speak to him.

He screwed up many times. I eventually told him that he had one more chance, and that if he screwed up again I was gone.

**End of Background Story**

So, after realizing that he had screwed up big time, he tried to apologize. I wouldn't look at him, and all I could do was grab all of my things and storm out the door. After giving Victoria a black eye and knocking out one of her teeth of course, I couldn't let her get away without a scrape.

Although I realized it was very much Victoria's fault for luring him back to his old ways, he was an adult and had the power to decide things for himself. He made his decision. After beating the shit out of Victoria, and saying a few last words to Edward, I left.

**End of Flashback**

I thought about the fact that all of that had happened two years ago, back when I was nineteen. I remembered how hard it was to switch schools, since N.Y.U. had wanted me so badly, and I wanted to get my degree. But luckily for me, I managed to switch to a school in California, where I was discovered by a new record company who needed some fresh talent for their label. They, by some amount of luck, hired Rose as my agent, and I ended up making it big. And that's where I'm at now.

After remembering everything that had gotten me to where I was at, I was too wired to go to sleep. I ended up writing a new song, one that helped me let out all of my feelings. I was sure a lot of it didn't quite make sense just yet; it was really late when I wrote it, and I was just venting. I did like it though. After I finally finished getting the lyrics down, I climbed into bed, exhausted. I fell asleep with that one face in my head.

_I hate myself for loving you_

_Can't break free from the things that you do_

_I wanna walk but I run back to you_

_That's why I hate myself for loving you_

**Author's Note: Hey, that was my newest chapter. Please tell me if it was at all confusing, and I'll try to answer any questions. I was frustrated when I wrote this, so I'm sure I made some mistakes. Anyway, please review! (By the way, the song is I Hate Myself For Loving You by Joan Jett).**


	7. Chapter 6

After about a week of spending my days at the studio, Alice and Rose decided that I needed to break up with James so I could get back out onto the dating scene again, or at least the flirting scene. I reluctantly agreed, and it was time for me to do what I said I would.

I called James and asked him to come over; I said that I needed to talk to him about something. He agreed eagerly, obviously not realizing what was going to happen. Anyway, about fifteen minutes later he was knocking on my door. I got up and let him in.

"Hey Bell," he said, pulling me in to a hello kiss. I pulled away, and that was when he realized there was something going on.

"We need to talk," I said, and I pulled him over to sit next to me on the couch. He looked at me with a calm look on his face, and I could tell he was just trying to cover up his feelings. "James, I think we should break up." I blurted out, not remembering what I had planned on saying.

He just sat there and looked at me for awhile, and I started to get nervous. Eventually, he broke the silence. "Is it because of Edward?"

"No!" I said automatically. It was mostly true. He was only a fraction of the reason.

"Then why? What did I do so wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong, I just don't feel that way for you, I'm sorry I didn't realize that earlier." I said, trying and failing to make things less awkward.

"You can't possibly know how you feel about me until we try that thing that you refuse to do." He said, and right then I knew that things were going to get bad if he didn't leave very soon.

"James," I said cautiously, "I think you should leave now."

"Fine," he said, and surprisingly enough, with that he walked out the door. I sighed in relief, happy that there was almost no conflict. Then I reached over, grabbed my cell, and called Alice. After a few rings, she picked up.

"Hey Bella," she said, "How did it go?" Of course she knew it went fine, since I was calling her.

"It went fine," I answered, "which you already knew of course. So, are you happy now? I'm officially single again, so now we can go out and do whatever. Now it's you and Rose who will be holding me back, I hope you know that." I teased, and she just laughed.

"Oh Bella," she said, "I hope you realize that if Edward gets his way, you won't be single for long either." I groaned, and she cackled like the evil little pixie that she was.

"Well, he won't get his way, so I guess he's screwed." I retorted, and after making plans to go to a new club in the city with Rose, Emmett, and Jasper we decided to go, since it was getting late. After I hung up the phone, I plopped down onto my bed and sighed. Edward was going to make things complicated for me, that much I knew for sure.

The next night, which was a Friday night, Alice and Rose showed up at my house so we could all get ready together. A.K.A, they got themselves ready and then decided to play Bella Barbie, since they hadn't got to in a long time. Once we were all ready, we all looked awesome. Rose was dressed in a gorgeous bright red mid-thigh length dress, with black four-inch heels. Alice was wearing a really pretty hot pink halter dress that was not quite knee length. I, unfortunately, was the least dressed of us all. The evil ones had put me into a sapphire blue low cut halter dress that barely covered my butt with three inch silver heels. Needless to say, I was furious.

"Why do I have to wear this? I'm going to somehow fall and flash everyone! This is going to be terrible!" I whined, knowing that my attempts to get a different outfit were futile.

"You have to wear that dress because it looks amazing with that tattoo on your thigh!" Rose said. Of course they would bring up my big mistake, not only bring it up but show it off! I really hated them sometimes.

My tattoo was on the outside of my upper thigh. It was a crescent moon surrounded by swirling silver fog and a few stars. I hated it, the only reason I had got it was because I lost a bet with Rose, and that was the consequence.

"Fine, whatever." I said, groaning internally. Tonight was going to be a very long night. With my dark smoky eyes, pale pink lips, high heels, curly hair, and tiny dress, someone was bound to mistake me for a hooker.

About an hour after we finished getting ready, the guys stopped by to pick us up. They walked through the door, and I swear their eyes just about popped out of their heads. Emmett's especially, but his were from surprise. He had noticed the tattoo on my thigh. I have no clue why he was looking in the first place, but oh well.

"Bella!" he said, sounding completely shocked, "When did you get a tattoo? And why didn't you tell me?"

"I got it when I turned eighteen, and I didn't tell you because I hate it!" I answered, and then tried to distract him by shoving him out the door toward the car. It didn't work of course, since Jasper heard what Emmett said and wasn't easily distracted.

"Bella," he said, "how 'bout you tell me how you got your tattoo?" he asked innocently, with a smirk on his face that said he was all but innocent. He's lucky, if he wasn't Alice's boyfriend I would have beat him to a bloody pulp.

"Fine," I groaned, and began my story, "Remember that bet I had with Rose? The one over how long it would take for Alice and Jasper to get caught at their little makeout spot in the back of the library?" Emmett nodded and grinned, while Jasper blushed. "Well, mine didn't end up being enough time, surprisingly, so Rose automatically won. This was my punishment," I said, gesturing to the tattoo.

"Oh," Emmett said, "darn."

"What?" I said, extremely annoyed.

"The story just wasn't as humiliating for you as I had hoped it would be." He replied, earning him a smack on the back of the head from Rose. The rest of us just shook our heads and hopped into the nearest cab. Then we headed down to the club, laughing and joking all the way.

In a few minutes we arrived at the club. It was packed, there were people lined up all down the street waiting to get in. Lucky for me, I had connections. I led my friends up to where the bouncers were standing, and after talking for a minute, one of them held open the rope and let us through.

We all walked into the club and went in separate directions. The guys both walked up to the bar to order our drinks, while we girls went out onto the dance floor. Even though I was usually pretty clumsy, for some odd reason I was extremely coordinated when I danced. Our favorite song came on, and we danced our way to the middle of the floor and danced together, laughing and trying out new random moves.

Of course, after awhile all of the sleazy guys were trying to grind on us. Eventually, Emmett and Jasper got annoyed and came over to save Rose and Alice, which left me on my own. I decided to keep dancing, until a one of the slimeballs came up and put his hands all over my ass. I didn't feel like putting up with it, so I told him he had one chance to get his hands off of me. He just laughed, so I turned around and saw some creepy guy with majorly gelled hair, pimples, and 'gangster' clothes. I had no clue why he was even here; usually guys like him couldn't get in.

I noticed that he was about twice my size, but that didn't intimidate me at all. When he gave me a stupid smug grin, I was just about to punch him, but someone grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, turned him around, and did it for me. I looked over to thank my savior, and saw those familiar green eyes.

"Thanks," I said quickly and tried to escape from his intense gaze, but he grabbed my wrist.

"Bella, can I please just talk to you? Just give me five minutes, and I swear that if you still hate me I won't ask you to talk to me again. Please," he pleaded, and I groaned and nodded. Now or never, I thought. He led me out to an empty street outside the back of the club. I looked up at him impatiently, waiting for him to say his part so I could tell him to get lost. He looked at me for a minute, and then took a deep breath to start.

"Your five minutes start now." I said, keeping track of the time with my cell phone.

"Bella, I love you. I always have, always will. What I did was a mistake, and I know I made too many mistakes, and that you gave me too many chances, and for that I am so sorry. I want you to know that after you left I checked into a rehab clinic, and I have now been off of all illegal drugs for a year and a half. I know that this is a lot to ask, but I really wish you would think about taking me back."


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Hey guys, here's a new chapter. Sorry to leave it at a cliffy, but it just felt right to end the chapter there. So, thanks for the kind reviews!**

I stared at him for a few minutes, having absolutely no clue what to say. The two sides of me were battling. One side of me was rejoicing and telling me to jump in the air with glee and accept. The other part of me said hell no, I'm not taking him back that easily. Let's just say I like that side of me better, so naturally I chose to do what it said.

"I'm sorry; I just don't think that I'm ready to forgive you. I'm not quite sure that I ever will be. I am willing to be friendly with you, but for now or maybe permanently, that is as far as our relationship will go." I said, knowing (hoping) that I had made the right decision. He had a hurt but understanding look on his face.

"I understand that, but I just want to let you know one thing," he replied.

"What?" I said impatiently. I felt bad about my tone, but I really wanted to get away from the awkward situation and back into the club.

"I'm going to fight for you Bella. I love you, and I want you back. I won't bug you or try to make you feel uncomfortable or guilty, I just want you to be with me again." He said, his voice telling me that he was determined to do whatever he could to get me back. For some reason, instead of upsetting me, it thrilled me to know that he was willing to fight for me. Before I could respond, he nudged me toward the door and back into the club, and once he made sure I got back to my friends safely he slipped away into the darkness. I was still tongue-tied when I got back to my seat.

Alice gave me a knowing look. "You look like you could use this," she said, handing me a Cosmo. I took a sip of the sweet pink liquid and felt a little better. Rose looked at me, questioning what was going on. I only had to say one word.

"Edward." Then a look of understanding and sympathy came over her face, and she spoke aloud.

"What happened Bella?" she asked with a concerned tone.

"Well, he ended up helping me escape from some groping creeper, and then he asked me to go outside with him," I began, and I relayed the whole story to the group. Emmett and Jasper shook their heads, but Alice and Rose had huge smiles on their faces that they failed to hide. After I finished, Alice spoke up.

"That's adorable Bella! He's going to fight for you! That means he loves you! You will take him back soon, right?" I glared at her.

"Alice, I have no clue whether or not I'll take him back. It's going to be awhile before I can trust him enough to give my heart to him again. So maybe I'll go out with him again, maybe I won't."

Alice scowled. "Fine Bella, have it your way. I'm not going to argue with you, I already know that I'm right," I started to protest, but she just continued talking, "and we need to go back out and dance, I'm getting tired of just sitting here." I agreed, and her, Rose, and I took off toward the dance floor. Another amazing song came on, and we all started dancing together as we sang along. We knew all of the words.

_She moves her body like a cyclone_

_And she makes me wanna do it all night long_

_Going hard when they turn the spotlights on_

_Because she moves her body like a cyclone_

As I was dancing, I felt someone come up, put their arms around my waist, and start moving their hips in sync with mine. We danced together for a few songs, and I had no clue why I wasn't freaked out by the fact that some unknown guy was grinding all over me.

After the first song finished, I noticed that Rose and Alice had taken off. Whoever it was must have been hot, and they were just kindly leaving us alone. After the third song, I was getting tired and dehydrated, so I turned to thank the stranger and go get a drink, but when I turned around my breath caught in my throat.

Of course the evil pixie and her blond sidekick had to leave me alone with none other than Edward. He watched my reaction, and I tried to make words come out of my mouth. After a few minutes, I settled for pulling his face down to mine into a long kiss. I thought about the fact that his lips were very soft, and that he was a very good kisser. It'd been awhile, and I hadn't remembered that before. After a few minutes I pulled away, gasping for breath. I was immediately pissed at myself for my lack of self control. After he got himself out of his dopey post-kiss stage, he noticed how pissed I was.

"What's wrong Bella?" he asked, sounding worried.

"What's wrong? You know what's wrong! You're probably happy about it too!" I practically spat at him. I felt bad, I knew it wasn't his fault, it was mine, but I was still furious.

"I honestly don't Bella! I thought that was what you wanted!" he replied, sounding very confused.

"I wanted you to get away from me! I only did what I did because I was caught up in the moment, and I already regret it!" I yelled, and stomped off to my table to grab my things, I wasn't in the club mood anymore. After saying bye to Alice and Rose I was on my way home, with a very conflicted mind and heart.

The next morning I woke up and groaned. Today was the day that I had to get my pictures taken for my album cover, etc. I pulled my hair up into a high ponytail and didn't bother putting on any fancy clothes or makeup. I knew that my hair and makeup would get done when I got there, and that I would get a change of clothes. Then I walked out of the apartment to get a taxi to the studio.

Once I got to the studio, I walked into the dressing room to get being Bella Barbie over with. They changed me into a midnight blue silky sundress with no shoes. I had a beautiful thin rope-like bracelet around my ankle, and my makeup consisted of champagne colored eyeshadow and peachy pink lipgloss.

They did my hair in ringlet-like waves, and then they pinned a soft pink rose into the curls next to my ear. Then they were finally done. Luckily, I had put on some bronzer the night before and shaved, so my skin was smooth and golden. I had also just got some lighter brownish-blond highlights.

After my makeover, Rose and I were driven over to some beautiful butterfly gardens, where I would be getting my pictures taken. We walked into the place where Rose said I would meet my photographer. I opened the door, and was shocked when I saw Edward standing there, camera in hand. He just about dropped the camera when he saw me.

"Bella," he practically gasped, "you're beautiful! You look amazing!" He then stopped talking, and blushed. "Sorry, I was just stunned."

"It's ok," I replied, blushing more red than he was I'm sure. Rose just laughed and directed me to the door that was marked Entrance. Edward and I walked through, and Rose, being herself, left us alone together.

We walked a few feet apart, to the center of the garden, where all the really bright plants are. I walked over and started slowly walking around, pausing to smell all of the flowers and let the butterflies land on me. There was a screen across the top to keep the butterflies in, but it let in the hot sunlight. The rays streamed across my face, and I decided to sit on one of the benches in the middle of a bunch of the flowers to absorb the sunlight.

Edward spent the entire time snapping random pictures of me. Luckily I was used to it, so I didn't blush like I did when I got my pictures for my first album's cover. I ended up getting drowsy from the warmth, so I laid back and draped myself across the bench, stretching to absorb as much of the warmth if I could.

Amazingly enough, a few butterflies landed on me. One landed on the flower in my hair, and a few more just on random parts of my body. Edward snapped a bunch of pictures of that. We spent the next hour just being silent, watching the butterflies and sitting in the sun.


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Sorry if that last chapter was too cheesy or mushy, I just felt like making it somewhat happier toward the end. Anyway, please review! And thanks for all the reviews so far! Also, I would like to dedicate this chapter to one of my fans that has been giving me lots of nice reviews and PMs, Jayleen-Cullen-Whitlock-Hale. Thanks so much for your help!**

That night when I got home, I sank onto my couch with my head in my hands, confused. _Why was I so happy to hang out with Edward all day? I'm supposed to be mad at him, but we acted all buddy-buddy. I don't get it at all. _I decided not to think about it, so I pulled on my silky pajamas and crawled into bed.

For hours I rolled around, trying to get comfortable and more importantly, I tried to expel all thoughts of Edward from my mind. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Eventually I fell asleep.

I woke up in the morning with a sore throat and a terrible headache. I groaned when I realized that I obviously wouldn't be able to work on my album today, I wasn't even sure if I would be able to leave my apartment. I started to stand up, but I got really dizzy, so I laid back down. Luckily, I left my cell on the table next to my bed. I picked it up and called Rose.

"Hey Bella," she answered, "What's going on?"

"I don't think I'll be coming to the studio today, I don't feel so great." I replied, annoyed with the fact that I was diseased, which was going to screw up everything.

"Are you okay Bella? You sound terrible, it's definitely good you aren't coming in today, you could get the rest of us sick!" she said, being her usual self.

"Wow Rose, thanks for showing how much you care," I said sarcastically, "it's nice to know you're more concerned about getting sick than you are about the fact that I am sick. You're a great friend."

"Bells, you know I didn't mean it like that. You know I'm worried. Can you even get out of your apartment? From how bad you sound, I can't even see you being able to get out of bed!"

"I probably won't be leaving my apartment today," I started, but then I realized something very inconvenient, "well crap!"

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Rose asked, sounding like she was going to panic.

"Yeah Rose, I'm fine, kinda. I just realized that I was going to go get groceries, the cupboards are pretty empty. Dang it! I hate being sick!" I fumed.

"Don't worry Bella; I'll have that taken care of. Just stay in bed and go back to sleep!" she said. I knew her well enough not to argue when she used that tone.

"Fine, I'll lay back down, but I'm not going back to bed." I said.

"Whatever, you'll be asleep the minute your head hits the pillow," she teased, "so just lie down and go to bed! Good night/ morning!"

"Night." I grumbled, and I ended the call and laid back down. Rose was right of course.

I woke up to the sound of a knock on my door. I got up slowly, and walked over to open it. Edward and Alice were standing there, holding a few bags of groceries. I smiled weakly at both of them and opened the door wider.

"Thanks you guys!" I said in the most enthusiastic voice I could muster, and they walked in.

"Bella," Alice said in horror, "you look terrible!"

"Oh wow Alice thanks so much. I'm sure you would look way better if you were sick," I replied sarcastically.

"I think you are the best looking sick person I've ever seen," Edward said sweetly, and I smiled at him. Then I remembered that I was supposed to be mad at him, and my smile turned into a grimace.

"Thanks," I mumbled, and led the way to the kitchen. Edward just followed behind me slowly, looking confused.

"Well," Alice started, breaking the growing tension, "I've got to get to work, see you guys later!" I glared after her as she walked out the door, leaving Edward and I alone.

After standing there for a minute, I slapped my hand over my mouth and ran into the bathroom. Edward followed close behind me, and he held my hair out of my face as I threw up into the shiny porcelain bowl. _Not so shiny anymore, _I thought to myself as I flushed.

"Sorry about that Edward," I said, and I stumbled as I stood up. He caught me and picked me up bridal style, carrying me into my bedroom. I complained weakly, but he just ignored my complaints as he tucked me into bed.

"I'll be right back," he said, "Stay right there, don't move." I just groaned and rolled onto my side as he went into the kitchen. The position was uncomfortable, so I rolled onto my back again. I waited quietly until he came back down and set a glass of water next to my bed.

"Thanks," I said, and he just nodded and sat down at the foot of my bed. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I spoke up.

"Well, thanks for the groceries, and for bringing me back into my room. Sorry you had to witness that."

"It's fine Bella, you're sick. I'm just happy that I'm here to take care of you, it's a relief to know that you aren't sitting in here all by yourself." He replied, and he looked at me very seriously, "Are you ok now? Does anything hurt?" I lied and shook my head. He just looked at me until I finally admitted that I didn't feel all that great.

"Well, my head and throat hurt, and my stomach doesn't feel very good, but other than that I'm fine. You don't have to stay here, I'm sure you have better things to do than just sit here and watch me puke my guts up all day."

"Actually, to be honest, I have nothing to do today anyway. Even if I did, I would rather spend time with you, even if you are sick." He said kindly. I blushed.

"Thanks again then." I said, and then it got quiet again. After awhile, he asked if I felt like taking a nap, but I wasn't tired enough to sleep, especially with Edward sitting right next to me.

"Why don't we just talk for awhile then, and if you get tired I'll find something to do while you sleep," he said, and I agreed.

"So," I started awkwardly, "when did you go pro with your photography? I mean, you were considering it before, but I had no clue that you decided to use it as your career path."

"I started taking pictures professionally a few months after you left," he said. "My counselor told me that I should distract myself from my withdraw by doing something I enjoy, so I called a few people and eventually got a job as photographer to the stars. When did you decide to start singing?"

"Well, as you know, I've been singing since I was younger, and I eventually started playing with the idea of signing with a record label. About a week after I left, Rose contacted me and offered to be my agent, and we found a record label that my singing style would compliment. I released my first album about a year ago, and am currently working on my second one." I replied, feeling strange when both he and I mentioned my leaving. I guess it had been a sort of catalyst for both of us.

"As you probably know, Alice loved your album. She played it so many times that I'm sure I sang the songs in my sleep," he joked. I smiled. I decided not to even try to be mad at him anymore; he was just too nice to be mad at. I hadn't completely forgiven him of course, but I didn't feel like being so rude to him.

"Wow, I'm happy to know that my friends like it. I had hoped Alice especially would, so it's nice to hear-" I started to say, but I got cut off when I had to run to the bathroom and empty my stomach of all of its contents yet again. Lovely. After a few minutes of that, I flushed the toilet and stood up, wobbling a little, and grabbed my toothbrush. I didn't want the taste to linger.

Once I finished brushing my teeth, Edward put his arm around my waist and half dragged me back to my room. I was lucky that I must have had a sudden burst of strength when I had to run to the bathroom, but obviously that strength had gone away again. Damn.

"You ok?" Edward asked for what seemed like the millionth time, and as usual I told him I was fine.

I could tell by the look on his face that he was going to get into some touchy subject. "So, how's everything going with James?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"Actually, I just broke up with him awhile ago." I replied.

A look of relief spread across his face, he looked as if a great weight had just been lifted off of his chest. "That's probably for the best Bella; we both know he's not a very good guy."

"Yeah," I said with a scowl, "I know." He sensed that I was remembering something that frustrated me, so of course he just had to ask.

"What's wrong Bella, did something happen?" I sighed.

"Nothing happened, everything was and is fine." I replied. He just asked me one more time.

"Bella, what happened?" I ended up telling him all about how James was constantly trying to get me to do crap with him, and how he would always get mad at me when I said no. His jaw and fists were clenched the entire time; I could tell he was pretty pissed. I knew I shouldn't have been thinking this, but all I could think about was how hot he looked when he was being protective of me. He always had been, especially back in high school.

**Flashback:**

Back when we were in high school, Edward absolutely loved drag racing. Although it was illegal, he somehow always managed to not get caught, even the few times the cops showed up.

One time, I begged him to take me with him, and even though he was very worried about my safety, I used my awesome persuading skills **(I'll let you figure out what I mean by that :D) **to convince him to take me.

Later that night, I snuck out of the house in my torn up jeans and motorcycle jacket (I had to invest in one since I had a motorcycle that Jacob taught me to ride) and ran out to meet him by the road. I jumped into his car and we took off, luckily not getting caught by my dad, the police chief of Forks. We sped to the place where the race was at, and I was totally exhilarated.

His car was a 2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster **(Pic on my profile)**, which was definitely the hottest car I had ever seen. I had only gotten to ride in it once before, at our junior prom. The wind streamed through my hair, and we whipped through the forest, going eighty down the dirt roads. Edward laughed as I shrieked and squealed, totally loving it. Eventually, we made it to the spot.

I could see our opponent, the wanna-be bad ass Mike Newton. Poor guy didn't even seem to realize that he was going to get his ass kicked. The guys agreed on a complicated path to take, I just stopped paying attention, knowing I would get no where by trying to figure out where we were going. After a little more discussion, Edward climbed back into the car.

He pulled up to the starting line. Both of the guys revved their engines in a little show of male dominance, and I rolled my eyes. Edward's car had had some work done on it by Rose, so the engine snarled. Compared to the Aston Martin, Mike's car sounded more like an angry kitten. I snorted, and Edward grinned.

The guy in between the two cars gave the signal, and we took off. I was pumped on adrenaline as we went ninety around the corners and around one ten on the straight stretches.

After tearing through the woods and driving in a few circles, the finish line was in sight. Mike was inches ahead of us, but I knew Edward had a plan. At the last minute, a few feet in front of the finish line, he floored it and we crossed the line just before Mike did. He hit the brake and spun the car sideways into a stop. All of our friends swarmed the car.

Edward jumped out of the car, tore open my door, dragged me out and kissed me, still exhilarated. I laughed and kissed him back, and he lifted my feet off the ground and twirled me around a few times. Eventually I managed to pull away, and I ran over to hug Rose and Alice. They squealed and asked me how freaked out I had been while Edward was driving so fast, and I proudly admitted that I hadn't been scared at all.

A little while later, we were all off talking to our friends and drinking. **(This happened after Bella kissed the girl.) **I could see Edward standing a ways away from me, laughing with Emmett and Jasper. Alice and Rose went to go to the bathroom, and as I was standing there alone some strange creepy guy came up to me.

"Hey babe, want a drink?" he asked stupidly. I pointed to the half-full beer in my hand. "Oh. Well, do you want to go somewhere with me?" I, being my stupid self, decided to play with him a bit.

"What place do you have in mind?" I asked in my 'hot' voice as Alice calls it. I looked up at him from under my eyelashes, and I could see his eyes glaze over a little bit.

"How about to my car?" he asked with a grin on his face that I think he thought was somehow attractive. He reached over and started to grab my arm, but I pulled away.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have a boyfriend that I should probably get back to. Maybe some other time," I said, and I started walking away. He grabbed my arm and turned me back around to face him.

"I don't think that was really a request," he said menacingly, but right before he could drag me away, I saw a fist hit him right in between the eyes. The sound it made was kinda gross, and I knew he was going to have a nice mark the next day. He dropped to the ground, and I turned around and saw Edward standing there. I threw my arms around his neck, and he put his arm around my waist possessively.

He led me back to his group of friends, and we all joked around for a little while. Eventually, Edward decided to get me home, since it was four in the morning and I could barely stand up right. He picked me up like I was a rag doll and gently set me in the passenger's seat. After saying goodbye to everybody, he drove me home.

**End of Flashback.**

Edward waved his hand in front of my face, and I snapped out of my trip down memory lane.

"You ok?" he asked, looking worried.

"Yeah," I replied, "I'm fine. I was just remembering the first time you took me racing." He smiled, and we started talking about some of our other memories of the next few times he took me racing with him. We spent the rest of the afternoon laughing about some of the other crazy things we had done together when we were younger.

**Author's Note: Hey you guys, I hope you liked that chapter as much as I did! If not, just to warn you, in case you haven't figured it out I like to include lots of Edward and Bella's old memories. You will probably see more sometime in the near future. Anyway, please review and tell me what you thought of the chapter!**


	10. Chapter 9

The next morning, I woke up feeling a lot better, to my relief. I thought back to the day before and smiled. Edward had been so sweet. We sat on my bed and talked the entire day. Well, except for the times that I had to run to the bathroom, but even then he was nice enough to hold my hair back for me, and to grab me a new glass of water every time I needed one.

As I was on that train of thought, my cell started ringing. I picked it up and checked the caller I.D. It was Alice of course.

"Do you feel better today Bella?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I won't be going back to work quite yet, but I should be able to tomorrow." I replied.

"That's great, I'm happy that you're feeling better. Edward said that you were feeling terrible yesterday. Which reminds me," she started with her sly tone, but I cut her off.

"Edward was very kind yesterday, I was glad to have someone to talk to. Did you need something, or were you just calling to check on me?" I said quickly, not wanting to talk guys with Alice. Especially not when that guy was Edward. Then I heard a knock on my door. "Never mind Alice, someone's here, I gotta go."

"Oh, ok. Well, I'll see you later," she said, sounding disappointed. In all honesty, I was relieved.

"Yep, see ya." I said, and then I hung up. I ran over to the door to let whoever it was in. I opened the door and squealed when I saw who was behind it.

"Jaquie! Holy crap, I had no clue you were gonna be here! I thought you were still in Japan!"

"Hey cuz, what's up? Sorry I dropped in without a warning, I just wanted to say hi and let you know I'm back for a few weeks." She replied. I looked at her for a minute, noticing that she looked much happier than the last time I had seen her. "So," she added impatiently, "do you mind if I come in?"

"Of course, come on in!"

"By the way Bells, I have someone I want you to meet." She said, and lifted up an infant's car seat. Inside was the cutest baby I'd ever seen. She had little brown almond shaped eyes, and soft looking black hair. When she looked up at me she gave me a toothless grin, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Who's this?" I asked, almost in shock.

"This is Nichole Rose. I adopted her while I was in Japan." She answered. I looked back at the beautiful baby.

"I had no clue that you wanted kids! At least, not for a little while! I'm so excited for you!" I practically squeaked. She smiled.

"Well, work was going really good, and I decided that it was time for me to start making a family for myself. I contacted a few people, and after a ton of paperwork and some other things that took forever, I found her. I fell in love with her the minute I saw her, and I knew she was what I wanted." She said, smiling down at the baby.

"She's beautiful! Thanks so much for bringing her here so I could meet her!"

"Of course, I mean, you are my favorite cousin! I wanted her to meet you!" **(Just to let you know, they aren't really cousins, they've just been friends since they were in diapers, so that's what they call each other.)**

"Alright, well, is there anything else you want to surprise me with tonight?" I asked her jokingly.

"Nah, I think I've shocked you enough for one night. If I come up with something else I'll let you know." She said with a grin.

"That's probably for the best," I replied. "So, where are you staying?"

"I just checked in at a hotel a few blocks away before I came here so I could drop my stuff off."

"You do realize that you could've just stayed with me, right? I have an extra bedroom that you and the baby could've stayed in."

"That's ok, I didn't want to just drop in on you unexpectedly and then demand a place to stay," she said, being her usual self. She never liked to ask for anything, she was always too considerate of other people's feelings.

"Jaquie, you know I'm always happy to have you around, you can always stay here, anytime."

"Alright, next time I'll stay with you. For now though, I'm just going to stay at the hotel. The baby stays up most of the night crying anyway, I doubt you want to deal with that."

"Actually, I love babies, and I would love to help you out. Why don't you stay here tomorrow night, and I'll take care of Nikki while you get some rest. I can get up with her, it'll be fine." I said, knowing that she must be exhausted.

"If you insist," she agreed with a smile. She looked almost relieved. After about an hour of catching up, the door burst open, practically giving me a heart attack. Jake walked in.

"Holy crap Jake, you scared me," I started, but then I saw the terrified look on his face.

"Jake, are you ok? What's wrong?" I said, feeling panic rise up in my chest. I had never seen him looking so scared.

"It- it- it's Leah," he managed to stutter out, and then tears started pouring down his face. I pulled him onto the couch and wrapped my arms around him, and Jaquie took the baby into the bedroom.

"What's wrong with Leah?"

"She- she wasn't feeling good," he started, calming himself down so he could speak. "So I took her to the E.R. After she told the doctors all of her symptoms, they took her up to get some x-rays and a cat scan. They- they found cancer. In her pancreas." I gasped, and tears welled up in my eyes. I knew a lot about pancreatic cancer. One of my aunts had it, and the doctors couldn't treat it. She died about a month after they found it.

Jake started to cry again. I was terrified for Leah, and I had never seen Jake cry like that before. That added to how scared I was, because I knew it must be pretty bad for him to be so upset.

"They said that she has a few weeks left at the most. There's nothing they can do." He said. For the next few minutes, I made myself stop crying. My big brother always protected me; it was my turn to return the favor. I let him cry in my arms, and I just kept telling him it would be okay. I knew that wasn't true, I just didn't know what to say.

After about fifteen minutes, Jake finally calmed himself down. "Sorry Bells, I didn't mean to ruin your shirt."

"It's fine, this is an old t-shirt. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're okay. Are you okay?"

"Not really, but I need to be calm when I go back to Leah and Noah." **(That's their new baby.) **

"I'm sure Leah won't mind Jake, you're obviously going to be upset."

"Well, I mind. I need to be able to take care of my family; I can't do that if Leah is trying to comfort me the whole time. I just need to pull it together."

"Alright, if you say so. You're welcome to stay as long as you need to, just so you know."

"I would, but I need to get home. I need to spend time with Leah, and anyway, I promised her I would be back soon."

"Okay. Thanks for telling me. Love you Jake. Tell Leah I said hi and that I love her and I'll try to come see her as soon as I can."

"Alright," he said, and after one more hug he left.

I slid my back down the door and landed on the floor. Jaquie came out holding the baby.

"You okay Bella? I heard what happened. I'm so sorry," she said, looking really sad.

"Thanks, and I'm fine. I'm just worried about Jake, I hope he's gonna be okay. He's an awesome guy; he doesn't deserve to have something like this happen to him. No one does." I said, and got up to walk into the kitchen. "Do you want anything? Pop, juice, chips, or even dinner?"

"Maybe a juice, we just ate before we came." She replied, looking at me like I was crazy for bringing up something so off topic.

"I just need to pretend everything is normal for awhile. It hasn't sunk in yet." I explained.

"Yeah, I get it. It's always terrible when something like this happens, and it's even worse when it happens to someone close to you." She replied. "I should probably go. It's getting late, and I have a feeling you're going to want some time alone."

"Okay, that's fine. Come visit me again tomorrow if you want to, I mean, I can show you around."

"Sounds great," she said, and after letting me say bye to the baby, she left. The minute the door closed, I sank to the floor and burst into tears.


	11. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Sorry bout the sad chapter, but I just figured it wouldn't be at all practical to have a story be really happy, it needed some twists. In this chapter, Bella's gonna get into some trouble, so be prepared.**

After crying for awhile, I realized I wasn't going to feel better anytime soon. I decided that I needed to just get out of my apartment. I called Edward.

"Hey Bella, what's going on?" he answered.

"I need to get out of my apartment. Will you take me somewhere? I don't want to be out alone."

"Of course, I would rather you weren't out alone anyway. I'll be there in half an hour, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. I'll see you then." I said, and then I hung up. I walked into my bedroom to grab some clothes and get ready.

I decided that I just wanted to go all out and party tonight. I needed to forget, if only for a little while. I just couldn't handle the pain.

I grabbed my black silky miniskirt and my low-cut red halter top. I pulled on my dangerous-looking black heels and straightened my hair. After finishing my dark smoky eyeshadow and my pale pink lipgloss, I was done. I looked at myself in the mirror, and I was shocked with what I saw. I looked kinda hot, surprisingly enough.

A few minutes after that, I heard a knock on the door. I grabbed my purse and jogged over to open it.

"Hey," I said with a smile, and Edward stopped dead in his tracks. I was impressed, that was the second time I had made him speechless within a few days. I just grabbed his arm and pulled him out to the front of the building, and he followed like a lost puppy. I pulled him over to his car, and he opened the passenger door for me. He walked over and got in on the drivers side, and then sat and looked at me again for awhile.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, finally.

"Anywhere is fine with me, preferably somewhere loud that supplies alcohol." He just looked at me for a minute with a strange look on his face.

"Okay," he said simply, and he took off. We drove in silence for awhile, until we reached a new club toward the edge of town. He got out of the car, and opened my door for me. I smiled at him sweetly in thanks.

Just as I was about to walk up to the entrance, Edward grabbed my arm and spun me to face him.

"Why are you so upset Bella? I've never known you to want to get wasted, but that's obviously what you want tonight." He asked.

"Leah has cancer. In her pancreas. She isn't going to make it." I managed to get out, and then I choked on a sob.

"Oh Bella, I'm sorry," he said, and he pulled me into his arms. I pushed him away.

"I'm sorry Edward, but I cried enough. I need to just forget for awhile," I said, and I walked into the club, with Edward following close behind me. I walked up to the bartender to order the strongest stuff he had. He gave me a creepy grin when he handed me the glass, until Edward put his arm around me and glared daggers at him.

I chugged my drink, and then I led him out to the dance floor. A fun song came on, so we danced together. We ended up dancing the entire night, except for the slow songs. Those were always when I went to get myself another drink.

At about three in the morning, Edward told me that it was time to go, and we walked out. I was pretty upset, I barely had a buzz. I hadn't drank as much as I thought I did. Edward started to drive toward my apartment, but I stopped him.

"Why don't you just take me to your apartment?" I asked, and he looked shocked.

"I just figured that you'd want to go back home, we've been out all night." I looked at him for a minute, and I made a snap decision.

"I'd rather go home with you." I said, giving him a meaningful look. He understood, and he drove me to his apartment. I wanted to forget for tonight, it didn't what I had to do.

When we got into his room, I pushed him against a wall and pushed my chest against his, pressing my lips against his. Eventually, his tongue worked its way into my mouth. He picked me up and carried me into his room, shutting the door behind him.

The next morning I woke up and rolled over. My face smacked into something very solid. My eyes flew open, and I saw Edward lying there, asleep. I picked up the sheet to check my state of dress. I swore. All of the memories of the night before flooded into my mind. I swore even louder.

"Shit! Damn it! Fuck!" Edward groaned and rolled over.

"What's wrong Bella?" he asked, still half asleep. Then his eyes flew open. He also checked under the sheet, and had a similar response to mine.

"I'm so sorry Bella! I wasn't thinking clearly, and your lips were… oh God," he said, stopping, with a dopey smile on his face. I smacked his shoulder.

"How can you be smiling at a time like this? This is bad, this is very bad! What's Alice gonna think, what's Rose gonna think? Wait, no, we just don't have to tell them! It will be…" I started, panicking, but Edward cut me off.

"Bella, it's ok. I mean, at least we know each other, and we are kind of friends. It could've been worse. I am so sorry, but there's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to make a decision."

"What decision?"

"Are we going to pretend this never happened?"

"I think that would be for the best, Alice and Rose would kill me if they found out, and I'm still not ready to be in a serious relationship with you."

"Okay," he said, "then it's all good. Everything is going to be fine."

I smiled at him. "Yep!"

"You know," he said in his most innocent voice, "we can always pretend that both last night and today never happened…" and he trailed off, pressing his lips against mine softly. I laughed and shoved him.

"Don't push it," I warned him, with a big smile on my face.

He pouted. "Fine, I guess. That would've made my day, but oh well, I guess I'll survive." I laughed again, and I could feel my resolve slipping.

"Well, maybe we can forget about this," I said, my voice getting muffled as I kissed him. Let's just say that's how we spent the rest of the afternoon. Kind of.

The next morning, I woke up in my own bed. I remembered leaving last night, and being relieved to get a change of clothes and take a shower.

I groaned when I realized that I needed to get out of bed. Yesterday afternoon, Alice had called. Without revealing where I was at, I agreed to have everyone over at two.

I slowly crawled out of bed and hopped into the shower. It was very refreshing, and I bounced out of the shower to get dressed and make myself presentable.

When I was done, I was wearing jeans, a W.W.F. t-shirt, and my favorite polka-dot toe socks. I had got my hair stick straight and put on a very minimal amount of makeup.

I walked out into the kitchen and got a bunch of snacks out, knowing the guys would want them. By the time I was finished, someone was knocking on the door.

I let in an over-excited Alice. "Bella! Hi! I have some amazing ideas for today! We're gonna have so much fun!"

I was very worried. "What type of things are you planning?" I asked cautiously.

"The usual. Movie, bowling, poker, and truth or dare."

"Absolutely not! We are not playing truth or dare!"

"Please Bella," Alice said in a small voice, her eyes all big and her lower lip quivering.

"Fine! Don't make me regret agreeing to this!" I said, and I groaned. Stupid pixie.

"Don't worry, you won't!" As I was about to reply, I heard another knock. When I opened the door, Jasper, Edward, Emmett, and Rose all walked in.

"Movie time!" Alice squealed, running over to my TV. She pulled a movie out of her purse. Unfortunately for me, she put it in before I could see what it was.

I sat on the couch and Edward sat next to me. Rose and Emmett laid on a sleeping bag on the floor, and Alice and Jasper sat on the love seat.

I grabbed the remote and pushed play. Alice jumped up and closed all of the thick curtains. The room became pitch black, except for the light from the TV. Then she sat back down.

Once the previews were done, the opening credits for Texas Chainsaw Massacre started. My eyes got wide, but I kept my mouth closed. I knew I had no choice but to watch it.

About halfway through the movie, I had my face hidden in Edward's chest. He had an arm around me, watching the movie intently. I shrieked when the characters started getting hacked up. Edward's grip tightened, and he chuckled.

After what seemed like forever, the movie ended. I sighed in relief, pushing Edward away so no one would notice that we had been all curled up together.

Alice jumped up. "Okay, let's go bowling!" We all pulled our shoes and coats on and walked out the door, talking and laughing.

When we got to the bowling alley, we grabbed our shoes, bowling balls, and a few lanes to play in. Emmett boasted the whole time.

"I just want to let you guys know that I am way better at bowling than all of you. Prepare to be defeated." With that, he grabbed his ball and threw it down the lane. It knocked over seven pins. He swore, and grabbed his ball once it came back up. He threw it down the lane again, and it rolled right into the gutter. The rest of us laughed as he stormed off to get a beer.

"Bella," Edward started, "are you gonna need help figuring out what to do?" I smiled.

"Nope, I've got the idea. Just roll the ball down the lane thingy and knock over those things at the end." I said, pretending to not know much about bowling. If I was being honest, I would've admitted that I used to bowl all the time, so I was very good at it.

Partway through the game, I was the only one paying attention to the scores. Everyone else was just messing around, and none of them besides Emmett even cared who won. Emmett wasn't watching the scores either though, he was too busy watching Rose's ass every time she had her turn.

I decided to flaunt some of my skills. I tossed the ball down the lane, and Emmett laughed when it started rolling toward the gutter. He stopped laughing when it rolled the rest of the way down balanced on the edge, and curved sharply at the end. Emmett's jaw dropped when all of the pins fell.

"Holy shit Bells, where did you learn to do that?"

"Around," I said, and with that I walked away to grab myself a Pepsi.

By the end of the game, we chose to let Alice read off all the scores. "In last is Jasper with a 100," she hugged him, "Rose has a 120. I have a 150, while Edward has a 182. The runner up is Emmett, with a 209." Everyone looked at me in shock. "Which puts Bella in first place with a 280."

"Holy shit again!" Emmett yelled. A few mothers with their children glared at him. I just laughed for what seemed like the millionth time and took off my bowling shoes and put my ball back. I walked out the door with my friends all trailing behind me, asking me how I got such a great score.

When we got home, Alice looked at us all with an evil smile. We all gulped, except for Emmett, but he's stupid so he doesn't count. "Yes, it's time for truth or dare! I love this game!"

We all sat in a circle. Alice decided to go first.

"Rose, truth or dare?"

"Truth," she replied intelligently.

"Dang. Oh well. Wait, I have a good question!" Alice said with a grin. "Have you and Emmett ever got caught doing the deed?" Rose blushed, and Emmett just laughed.

"Yeah," she admitted. "It was earlier this year. We were right in the middle of… well, you know! Anyway, we had forgotten that Emmett's cousin Allison was coming over. We had given her a key, which was a big mistake. Needless to say, the next few days were extremely awkward." We were all laughing by the time she finished.

She cleared her throat. "Bella, truth or dare?" Being my dumb self, I chose dare. "I dare you to sit in Edward's lap for the rest of the game." I sighed in relief. It wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. I decided to have fun with it.

I walked over to him and sat on his lap. I made sure to wiggle around a bit, and he groaned. "Bella," he warned. I sat still.

"Alright Jasper," I said, "truth or dare?"

"Dare." I smirked.

"I dare you to sing the song 'I'm Too Sexy' by Right Said Fred while we tape you, and then let us post it on youtube. He groaned and put the CD in my stereo.

_I'm too sexy for my love,_

_Too sexy for my love,_

_Love's going to leave._

As I taped his performance my hands were shaking because I was laughing really hard. He sighed in relief when he finished.

Once Rose got back from posting it, Jasper took his turn.

"Edward, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Alright. Who was the first person you did 'it' with?"

"Bella, you know that," Edward replied casually.

"Oh yeah, dang! What a waste of a turn!" Jasper said, smacking himself on the forehead.

"Anyway," Edward started, "Alice, truth or dare?"

"Dare of course!"

"I dare you to wear non-designer clothes for the rest of the weekend." It was Friday. Alice groaned,

"Fine." She said, knowing she had brought it on herself.

I decided to pay Edward back for being so mean to Alice, and just because I felt like it. I wiggled my butt around on his lap. He sharply inhaled.

"Damn it," he said, too quietly for anyone except me to hear. I smirked when I felt him having an issue. I ground my hips against his one more time for good measure, and then sat still.

"Bella," he hissed in my ear, "does the term 'blue balls' mean anything to you?" I faked innocent.

"Sorry," I whispered back, "I didn't mean to." He just snorted.

"Bella, truth or dare?" Alice asked me.

"Dare."

"Okay. I dare you to let me and Rose give you a makeover, and then you have to do a pole dance in whatever we put you in, to whatever song we pick."

**Author's Note: Sorry, I just felt like cutting it off there. Please review, maybe I'll post quicker!**


	12. Chapter 11

I could feel Edward's situation get even more pressing underneath me. "Alright," I said, trying to sound confident. Alice and Rose dragged me to my room, Alice dragging in a duffle bag I hadn't noticed before behind her.

By the time they finally let me go, they had to drag me back into the living room. Luckily, before we left the bedroom Alice had handed me a black trench coat. All you could see of my outfit was the pair of black high-heeled boots covered in buckles that they had put me in. My straight hair had gotten pulled back into a high ponytail, and I was wearing ruby-red lipstick and black eyeliner.

Luckily for me, the boots made my thighs look amazing, otherwise I wouldn't have even left the room. I had to admit, I looked really hot.

"Alright, where are we doing this?" I asked.

"My house," Alice replied simply. I almost asked why in the hell she had a pole in her house, but decided that it would be better for my mental health if I didn't know.

"Okay," I replied, and we all walked out the door.

When we got to Alice's house, she told Rose, Emmett, and Jasper to go watch TV in the living room. "Sorry guys, but I need to witness, and Edward needs to be the judge, but other than that, no one else needs to see what is going on."

I was almost relieved. Alice, Edward, and I all walked into the bedroom. There was a pole in one corner of the huge room. I took a deep breath, and removed my coat. Edward gasped when he saw what was underneath.

I was wearing a black lace-up corset and the shortest black shorts in history. The combination of the boots and shorts made my legs look a mile long, and my tattoo looked pretty cool. The corset made my already decent cleavage phenomenal. It was laced up very tight, and I was worried my boobs were going to pop out. It also gave me an hourglass shape.

Alice started the music, and I walked up to the pole.

_She had her eyes on the prize as the girl next door_

_You grow up quick when you grow up poor_

_It's the only way to L.A. that she knows_

_The Hollywood pose; teeth, tits, and toes_

_Didn't take her long to leave the Boulevard_

_So many five star friends with black credit cards_

_She'd try anything once cause anything goes_

_It never comes easy when you're digging for gold_

_Well she ain't no Cinderella when she's gettin undressed_

_Cause she rocks it like the naughty Wicked Witch of the West_

_Far too pretty to be giving it cheap_

_That's why she's makin six figures workin three days a week_

_Ya she'd even break a promise in the promised land_

_She didn't make it this far by just shakin hands_

_She'll shake her money-maker twice as hard as anyone can_

_She didn't make it this far by just shakin hands_

_I doubt she'd even let the devil buy her little black book_

_City hall would probably fall if anyone got a look_

_Every "A" list player is a favorite friend_

_Says they all taste the same in the back of the Benz_

_Her congressman will call her every once in awhile_

_Got the schoolgirl skirt on the top of the pile_

_She's done everyone once and everyone knows_

_Gotta get a little dirty when you're digging for gold_

_Well she ain't no Cinderella when she's gettin undressed_

_Cause she rocks it like the naughty Wicked Witch of the West_

_Far too pretty to be giving it cheap_

_That's why she's makin six figures workin three days a week_

_Ya she'd even break a promise in the promised land_

_She didn't make it this far by just shakin hands_

_She'll shake her money-maker twice as hard as anyone can_

_She didn't make it this far by just shakin hands_

_Someone spilled the beans and now her name's in the press_

_Tough to keep it all a secret when you're one of the best_

_The judge is goin easy cause he paid for her chest Ya he loves his little naughty wicked witch of the west_

_Far too pretty to be giving it cheap_

_That's why she's makin six figures workin three days a week_

_Ya she'd even break a promise in the promised land_

_She didn't make it this far by just shakin hands_

_She'll shake her money-maker twice as hard as anyone can_

_She didn't make it this far by just shakin hands_

_She'll shake her money-maker twice as hard as anyone can_

_She didn't make it this far by just shakin hands_

My face was flushed and I was slightly out of breath when I finished. I had really thrown myself into it.

"Well," Alice said, looking kind of shocked, "I guess those pole dancing classes we took a few years ago paid off." Edward just sat there, having a very big problem. I almost felt bad for him, but he'd obviously enjoyed it. Alice took one look at him and left the room.

"Don't come out until he's calmed himself down. I need to go tell Rose how it went."

Once she was gone, I walked over to him and sat on his lap, straddling him. I had decided to be kind of cruel, it was just too much fun. I moved around a bit.

"So Edward, what'd you think?" I asked, trying to sound like everything was normal.

"Good," he said, his voice sounding strained, "very good." That seemed to be all he could say, so I decided to play with him a little more. I leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"Are you sure 'good' is the best you can do?" I said in my 'sexy' voice. I wrapped my arms around his neck and trailed my lips across his jaw. I don't know what got into me, but suddenly all I cared about was one thing, and that was something I planned on getting.

When my lips reached his, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright, you're coming with me. No protests, this is your fault and you know it. You need to get up and put your coat on, and then we're leaving." I wiggled around a little, to insure that his "problem" would be obvious enough that even Emmett would notice it. I wanted to be nice to Emmett and give him something to tease Edward about later.

Then I got up, pulled my coat on, and walked out the door. Everyone looked at us expectantly, and Rose and Alice had matching grins. I knew they had been planning for this to happen.

"This game of truth or dare is officially over for me and Bella, we're going to go." Edward said, and he dragged me out the door. I could hear Emmett and Jasper's snickers as I closed it behind us. Let's just say that I definitely got what I wanted by the end of the day.


	13. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Here's a new chapter for you guys! By the way, I want to know why people basically stopped reviewing. Is it because Leah is dying, or is it just that no one is interested in the story? I'm not trying to be a brat or anything, I just wonder. Please please pretty please review! I don't think I'm going to keep posting unless people start reviewing again, so this may be the last chapter you see for awhile. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be mean, it just seems like no one is interested anymore. Sooo, once people start giving me at least a few reviews again, I'll start posting again.**

The next day, I woke up and stretched. After a long day with Edward yesterday, I was exhausted. I didn't get home until 3:00 in the morning. I groaned, and after stretching a little farther, I got up to take a shower. After getting myself all clean and pulling on my tennis hoodie from back when I was in high school, I grabbed my keys and a taxi so I could go back to work.

About halfway to the studio, I saw a Starbucks and decided to grab a coffee. I grabbed my favorite, the white chocolate mocha. Then I got back into the taxi to go to work.

Once I got there, I decided to record the song that I had written back after Edward came to my apartment for the first time since I got back, Thinking of You. I put my whole self into singing it, and when I finished and walked out of the recording room, Rose gave me a knowing look. I just shrugged and went into my dressing room to sort through more of my songs so I could decide what to record next. Rose came in behind me.

She started flipping through a few of my notebooks, and found the one that I'd written last night before I fell asleep. I was amazed that I'd been able to finish it before I went to sleep, but I didn't want to forget it, so I had stayed up to write the whole thing out.

"I like this one Bella, I mean, I think you should record it and put it on your new album." She commented.

"Are you sure? I thought that maybe I should just wait until the next album."

"I just think that it might fit kind of well with everything else. And, I think it could be a hit single."

"Alright, I will. Let me just look over it a few times, and I'll record it." I said, and she left so I could study it in peace. I realized while I was looking over it that Edward's struggle to win me back wasn't a struggle at all, I didn't have a chance.

I walked back into the recording room, grabbed the headphones, and started singing.

_Remember those walls I built_

_Well baby they're tumblin down_

_And they didn't even put up a fight_

_They didn't even make a sound_

_I found a way to let you in_

_Though I never really had a doubt_

_Standin in the light of your halo_

_I've got my angel now _

I continued singing, and Rose gave me thumbs up, obviously liking what she heard. All of my coworkers even applauded when I finished. Rose walked over to me.

"That is definitely going on this album. It's perfect, exactly the type of thing your fans have been waiting for!" she said, sounding excited, which was weird because Rose has never been an excitable person.

"Alright boss, what you say goes," I said with a smile, and just as I was about to go back to my dressing room, Rose ran into the bathroom. I ran in behind her, and held her hair back while she emptied her stomach of its contents.

"Sorry Bella," she said when she finished, "I don't know what's going on! I've been so nauseous for this past week, and I'm two weeks late!" I just looked at her for a minute, surprised for two reasons. First of all, I was amazed that she hadn't put the clues together. Also, she was probably pregnant!

"Rose, I can't believe you couldn't see this! You're pregnant!"

The look on her face when she replied was very deadly. "What?"

"Um, I hate to break it to you, but you and I need to make a trip to the nearest drugstore to invest in something that people like to call a pregnancy test." I said cautiously.

She just looked at me in shock. "How could that have happened? Emmett has been wearing condoms, he promised!"

"Well, you did say that he desperately wanted a kid…" I started, valuing my life too much to finish the thought.

"I'm going to kill him!" she screeched, "he's going to die! I'm going to cut off his balls and shove them up his ass! I'm going to… I'm going to…" she ranted, and then she ran out of steam when it sunk in. "I'm pregnant." She said simply.

"Possibly," I said, and without waiting for a response I dragged her out the door.

Half an hour later, we got home with the tests. We had bought five different ones, just to be safe. I sent her with them into the bathroom, and waited until she brought them out with her. She had me follow her into the living room and we set them in front of us, watching the clock to see when the results would be ready.

A few minutes later, it was time to check on them. Just as we were looking at them, Emmett walked in. Rose flew up in a rage.

"Emmett McCarty! What the fuck is wrong with you? You stupid asshole! I can't believe you did this to me! I'm going to murder you! Wait, no, I can do better than that. No more sex for nine months!"

"What did I do this time? What are you talking about? And why nine months? Wait, why no sex?" he squealed as he realized exactly all of what she had said.

"You didn't use condoms! That's why! No sex for nine months because that's how long we have until this thing comes out you dumbass!" All I could do was smile. I was going to be an aunt! Yay! Then I looked at Emmett. He had a look of horror on his face, but then some joy got mixed into it.

"Rose! We're gonna have a baby! I love you so much!" he said, and as he started to grab her, she slapped his hand away.

"Remember what I just told you? Well, it's gonna be even better. Not only are we not having sex for the next nine months, you are not aloud to touch me for that whole time either!" she screamed, and she stomped into her room and slammed the door.

I looked over at Emmett, and the look on his face was so sad that it almost broke my heart. "It's okay Emmy bear, she just needs to get over the shock, it'll all be fine," I said, and I gave him a big hug. "But I need to leave; I don't feel like having my head ripped off for 'fraternizing with the enemy' as she puts it. See ya later!" he just gave me a look of horror, not being able to believe that I was leaving him to his death. I just waved and walked out the door.


	14. Chapter 13

**Three Weeks Later:**

A phone call woke me up from a deep sleep. I looked at my clock; it said 3:00 am. I grabbed my cell, and when I answered it I heard Jake's voice.

"Hey Jake, what's going on?"

"Bella, I need you to come to the hospital please. We just found out that Leah only has a few days left." He said in a voice filled with despair.

"What? How? I thought she at least had a few months!" I exclaimed, and I jumped up to grab some clothes and my purse. I ran outside and directed the cab driver to take me to the hospital. As I rushed, Jake spoke.

"She lost the baby. The doctors said that once they told her, she lost the will to live. The only reason she's hanging on is because she demanded to see you. Of course I had to agree; otherwise I never would've called you so early."

"Jake, you know you should always call me, especially at a time like this! I'm so sorry Jake, I know you were so excited for the baby, and I know you were counting on a few more months with Leah." I said, trying to block my emotions. I knew that I definitely had to stay strong, for Jake's sake.

"Yeah. Well, I guess I'll see you when you get here." He said, and hung up. I asked the driver to go faster, and we arrived at the hospital a few minutes later.

I rushed in and asked the nurse to give me directions to Leah's room. Once I got them, I ran the whole way there. Jake met me outside of the door, and told me he was going to get a coffee. I saw the dark circles under his eyes, so I told him to stay out as long as he needed to. He just turned around and got into an elevator.

I walked into Leah's room, and sat on the chair next to her bed, taking her hand in mine. "Hey, how do you feel?"

"I'm fine," she replied, "just tired."

"Oh, that's good." I said, not knowing what else to say.

"Bella, I need to talk to you, I need you to do a few things for me. Ok?"

"Of course, anything."

"Take care of Jake for me please. I just want him to be happy. I need to know that he's going to be okay after I'm gone. I don't want him to lose the will to live, he's stronger than that. Don't let him become depressed, or hole himself up in the house. He needs to be out with people that love him. Most importantly, I need you to remind him how much I love him, every day. Can you do all that for me?"

"Of course Leah. I'll take care of him. He's my big brother, I love him so much. And Leah?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too. You are one of my best friends, and the best sister-in-law anyone could ask for. You've brought so much happiness into Jake's life, and I don't know what either of us are going to do without you!" At that point, tears started to fill my eyes.

"Oh Bella, I love you too. You'll both be fine without me, I promise." She replied, and she also got a little teary eyed. I had never felt so much respect for anyone before in my life. She put my brother before herself, even when she was on her deathbed.

"Thank you Leah. Just thanks." I said, not knowing how else to say how thankful I was that she was so good to my brother, and how amazing she was as a person. She just nodded, and then her eye lids started to droop.

"Bella, remember, tell him I love him," she said, her voice getting weak.

"What do you mean? He'll be back in a minute, then you can tell him yourself." I said, starting to panic when her breathing became shallow.

"Leah? Leah? What's going on? What are you doing? Don't you dare leave me and Jake yet; you've still got time left! Please don't go yet! Just wait for Jake!" I said, starting to get hysterical. Doctors ran in, and a nurse pushed me out toward the waiting room. I walked toward it with tears streaming down my face, knowing there was nothing I could do.

Then Jake stepped out of the elevator. When he saw all of the commotion in his wife's room, he dropped his coffee and ran over. When the nurse told him he couldn't go in, he started yelling.

"What's going on? Leah? Leah? Let me in, I need to see my wife! Please! Let me in!" he said, panicking. The nurse signaled for one of the male nurses to remove Jake from the room.

"Sir, I'm sorry. You need to stay out here right now, we'll call you in soon." He said calmly, leading Jake to a chair. Jake, realizing exactly what was happening, started sobbing. He sank onto a chair, head in his hands. All I could do was choke on my sobs as I desperately tried to tell him everything would be ok. I knew that would have been the biggest lie in history.

After about fifteen minutes, the doctors all came out of the room, somber looks on their faces. "Sir," one of the male doctors said, "I'm sorry. There was nothing we could do."

Jacob just said, "I know." With that, the doctor took him in to see her one last time, and then led him into a room to fill out paperwork and make funeral plans. I sat there in shock, not being able to wrap my head around the fact that she was actually gone. Leah was gone.

I sat there, completely silent and still, for a very long time. Eventually, the elevator doors opened, and Edward ran to me.

"Bella, are you ok?" he asked in a panicked voice.

"Yeah." I replied tonelessly, feeling numb.

"Carlisle told me what happened, and I got here as fast as I could." He said, referring to his uncle, who was also in charge of the floor Leah was on.

I just stared at him, face blank. Then, I lost it.

"Leah is gone!" I cried, "I watched her die Edward! I saw the whole thing! She just stopped breathing, and she went so still! I can't… I can't… oh!" I had tears pouring down my face by then, and I could barely breathe. I was babbling mindlessly, and sobbing.

Edward picked me up and carried me out of the hospital. I couldn't even walk with the state I was in. I was shaking and crying so hard that the one time he had to put me down, I almost collapsed. He grabbed onto me and dragged me the rest of the way out to his car.

Once we got to it, he swung me into the passenger seat, and got into the driver's side. Once we were on the way to his apartment, he started trying to calm me down.

"Bella, it's ok sweetie. Love, I need you to calm down, you need to breathe." He said, looking at me with a worried look on his face. I just kept crying and gasping and choking. Finally, he just pulled the car over and hauled me into the back seat with him.

"Bella," he said, laying me across his lap, "you need to calm down. Please love, I need you to breathe." I managed to calm down enough to take in one ragged breath, and then another. Once I was breathing semi-normally, and my sobs had turned into whimpers, he stopped rocking me and put me back into the front seat.

By the time we got to his apartment, my tears had finally come to a halt. Before I could climb out of the car, he opened my door and pulled me into his arms. He pressed his lips to my hair, and I felt so safe and secure in that moment. I just wrapped my arms around his waist, laying my head on his chest. He held me for awhile, and then it started to rain.

He picked me up again to carry me into his apartment. I was too tired to argue with him, so I just lay limply in his arms.

Once we got into his apartment, he set me onto his bed and went into his closet to grab one of his t-shirts for me to sleep in. While he was looking, I grabbed a notebook and pen from the table next to his bed, and jotted down the words to a new song:

_In the arms of the angel_

_Fly away from here_

_From this dark cold hotel room_

_And the endlessness that you fear_

_You are pulled from the wreckage_

_Of your silent revelry_

_You're in the arms of the angel_

_May you find some comfort here_

Just as I finished writing, he came back with a shirt for me. I fell asleep with his arms around me, as he hummed a lullaby in my ear.

**Author's Note: Alright, I'm really sorry for this depressing chapter! It had to happen sometime though. I'm also sorry if it sucked, I've never written that type of thing before. Please review and tell me if I did an ok job!**


	15. Chapter 14

A few days later, we all ended up standing around a six-foot deep hole, dressed in somber colors. A few tears trickled down my face as they lowered the casket. I squeezed Jake's hand tightly, willing him to keep it together for as long as he could. I knew he would be embarrassed if he cried in front of the people who had shown up to Leah's funeral.

After they lowered the casket and the priest said a few words, we all got into our cars to drive back to Jake's house. Edward held my hand as he drove, both of us silent. I was trying to get a handle on my emotions before we got there, and Edward was trying to be supportive by just being there if I needed to vent. After a few minutes, we pulled into the driveway.

Jake was already there, fixing up some things last minute. Rose, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper all pulled up next to us. Alice gave me a sad smile and pulled Rose and I into a hug. After a few seconds, I pulled away and led everyone into the house. After everyone gave Jake a big hug, we made sure that everything was set. Then more people started to arrive.

First were Angela and Eric, who had apparently been good friends with Leah back in high school. Then Leah and Jake's parents. A few others drifted in, and we all started to wander around, talking quietly.

After a few hours of this, everyone left, and the house got even quieter. We all said our goodbyes to Jake, and left to meet up at my apartment. We figured that he would want a little alone time. I hoped he would feel better as soon as possible; I hated seeing him like that. In such a depressed state, never laughing or smiling. The only time he ever left the house was for food, and then Leah's funeral.

I had decided that I would go check on him once every few days, just to make sure that he was okay. I knew I would have to be responsible for keeping in touch with him in his almost grief-stricken state.

Once we all got into my apartment, I told everyone about my plan. My goal was for Jake to get out of his depression as soon as possible, he needed to be his happy self again. They all agreed, and we set of a schedule of who would go to see him on what days.

After making small talk for a little while, everyone except Edward decided to leave. He stayed with me, and we just sat for awhile in a comfortable silence. He had pulled me onto his lap. I put my arms around him and pressed my cheek against his chest, and I could hear his heartbeat.

As we sat, I thought about everything that had been going on. Edward and I were officially dating. Jaquie was back, hopefully for awhile. Rose was pregnant, Alice and Jasper were engaged. And Leah died. I shuddered at that thought. It was insane to think about how much had happened within the small amount of time I'd been back, some good, some bad.

After awhile, Edward sat me on the couch and got up to look for a movie. He found one of his favorites, The Emperor's New Groove. I had to smile at his choice. When he saw my smile, he smiled back, and put it in. Then he sat back on the couch to watch it with me.

We watched the movie with his arm wrapped around my shoulders, my head leaning on his shoulder. I cried a little when he was sitting out in the rain all alone, but then I had to laugh when the evil women took the potion and turned into a cat. It seemed to make Edward happy, my laughing.

Once the movie was over, he decided to speak, breaking the almost silence for the first time in awhile.

"Bella, I'm gonna go to my apartment so I can get some stuff to stay the night here, okay? I'll be back soon, I promise." He said reassuringly.

"Thanks for warning me," I said, and he chuckled at my attempt at humor. After kissing my forehead, he left. Soon after, I picked up the phone to call Jaquie.

"Hey Bells, what's up? How was the funeral? Is Jacob okay?"

"Hey. The funeral went fine, and Jake is as good as can be expected. I decided that I would like to have someone go over to check on him every few days to make sure he's ok."

"I see, that sounds like a good idea. You know, I'd be happy to check on him a few times if you guys are busy, just to let you know."

"Thanks, I'll be sure to take you up on your offer if we're ever busy. I'm sure Jake would love to have someone new to talk to every once in awhile, he gets bored when he sees the same people all the time."

Right as I said that, I heard a shrill cry in the background. "Oh dang! Sorry Bella, I have to go. Nichole just woke up, and she's not very happy, as you can probably hear."

"That's fine," I replied, "Edward's gonna be back in a few minutes anyway."

"Alright, see ya later!"

"Yep, bye!" After I set my phone on the end table, I started pacing. Ever since Leah had died those few days ago I had been having really high anxiety. As I paced, I started thinking.

By then I knew for a fact that I was completely in love with Edward. There was no point in denying it anymore, I had known it for awhile. I just needed to figure out how on earth I was going to tell him.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts. I walked over and opened it, and Edward walked in. He looked kind of nervous.

"Hey Edward! Are you okay? You look kind of pale." I commented.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just… there's something I have to tell you." He replied, his cheeks turning pink.

"Okay, tell me!" I said impatiently.

"Lets go sit down first," he said, leading me over to the couch.

"Bella, with everything that's been going on lately, I have been thinking. Life is too short to waste time once you've found what you're looking for, and I've found what I've been looking for. Bella, you're what I've been looking for. I love you, more than anything or anyone else in existence," he said, and then took a deep breath as he waited for my response, eyes filled with hope.

My eyes filled with joyful tears as a smile spread across my face, "I love you too! I've known it for awhile; I just didn't know how to tell you!" And with that, he took me into his arms, planting kisses on my hair, cheeks, and lips.

About two weeks later, everything had started getting slightly more normal. Jake became a little more talkative, and we even got him to smile once. People stopped calling to offer their condolences to my relief.

For some reason, I had a feeling that Jaquie was the reason Jake had started talking more. She had gone to visit him a few days after the funeral, and apparently, according to Jaquie, they had started talking, and apparently hadn't stopped since.

Since then, she was the one to check on him, and on days when she hadn't had time to visit him they talked on the phone. According to Jaquie, the best part was that he absolutely adored baby Nicky, and she seemed to like him too.

As I thought about the new development between Jake and Jaquie, my phone rang. It was Alice. She told me I needed to get my butt down to the coffee shop on the corner, everyone was apparently there. She had decided that we all needed to get together at least once a week, and I agreed.

After pulling on my Pumas and grabbing my keys, cell, and purse I took off out the door to grab a cab.

Once I got there, Alice immediately bounced over to me. "C'mon Bella! We're making plans for Friday! We all want to go to that bar a few towns over. You know, the one with karaoke Fridays!"

I groaned. "Hell no Alice, you demonic pixie! You are not dragging me into this! You know I can't stand going to those places!"

"Bella," she pouted, "You have to! It's not like you aren't a good singer! Come on! Just this once! Please?" she begged, puppy dog eyes on full force.

"Fine! Just this once!" I agreed, hating myself the minute I said the words. Then, to top it off, I realized that I had also just agreed to be Bella Barbie. Agreeing to that is like selling your soul to the devil, except ten times worse.


	16. Chapter 15

There were plenty of people staring as Rose, Alice, and I walked into the karaoke bar. I, of course, knew exactly why. Rose and Alice had decided that since this would probably be one of the last times Rose would be able to wear her normal clothes when she went out, we all needed to dress up like sluts. Oops, I mean, like total hotties, as they put it.

So I was stuck in faded and torn low-rise jeans with a midnight blue off the shoulder tee. My silver strappy heels added a few inches to my height, and I had very dark grey smoky eyes with plum colored lipstick. My hair was curled into ringlets, which were streaming down my back.

Alice was wearing an adorable hot pink mid-thigh length dress with black gladiator heels. Her shoulder length shiny black hair was super straight, and she had lilac eyeshadow and clear lipgloss.

Finally there was Rose. She looked absolutely gorgeous. Kind of slutty, but gorgeous. She was wearing a skin tight bright red tube top, black shorts that were so short they barely cover her butt, and five inch black leather platform heels. She had black liquid liner framing her eyes, and her pouty lips were bright red. Her hair was curled and pinned up into a messy bun, and a few of the golden curls were framing her face.

When we reached the guys' table, they all took a moment to admire us in our outfits before they went to go get us drinks. While they were gone, we decided to go dance. All three of us were grinding on each other, and we all ignored any guys that tried to join in until they left us alone.

After about three songs we went back to our seats to get our drinks from the guys. After chugging about half of mine, I started talking to Rose, who, unfortunately for her, was stuck with a Pepsi. "So, have you guys decided whether you want to find out the sex of the baby once it's possible, or just wait until after it's born?"

"We decided that we're going to find out as soon as we can, because Emmett really isn't patient enough to wait until it's born," she started, and then Alice cut in,

"And of course we're going to need to know so we can paint and decorate the nursery and buy clothes and other stuff!" She said, bouncing in her seat at just the thought of having an excuse to shop.

"Yeah," Rose said, rolling her eyes in my direction. I tried to hide a smile as Alice continued.

"By the way, if it's a girl we definitely need to paint the nursery yellow, it would be so adorable! We could have a daisy theme, with all sorts of adorable stuff to match! Or, if it's a boy, we should decorate it with a sports car theme! And then we could…" her wonderful word vomit was stopped by Jasper pressing his lips to hers, and with dreamy eyes she followed him to the dance floor.

"Thank the Lord; I thought I was going to die if she didn't stop talking! It drives me insane when she goes on and on and on about that crap! I'm sorry, I mean, she's an amazing friend, but it just kills me when she constantly talks about shopping!" Rose said, and Emmett just smiled and gave her a peck on her cheek, and she looked up at him, smiling, with her eyes full of adoration.

Edward and I smiled at each other, and then took off to the pool tables. After a few games, the dance floor cleared, and the DJ announced that it was officially time for karaoke. I groaned as Alice ran up to me and dragged me over to sign up to sing. Although I wasn't too happy about having to sing, I loved the song I chose.

Alice was up first, after everyone had signed up.

_If you want me_

_The cherry on top_

_The pick of the pack_

_The crème de la crop_

_If you want me you better do better than that tonight_

_If you want me_

_It takes more than a wink_

_More than a drink_

_More than you think_

_If you want me you're gonna have to break the bank tonight_

_Cause I _

_Don't have the patience_

_Some call me high maintenance _

_But you paid the bill_

_Cause that's the deal_

_If you wanna ride_

_Just name your price_

_Don't play cheap_

_With your heart_

_Don't make a bet if you_

_Can't write a check_

_For me_

_For me_

_Cause I can be bought _

_But you'll pay the cost _

_If you can afford me_

Jasper wasn't too happy with her song choice, but he had to smile when she bounced over to hug him when she finished. Then it was his turn,

_I judge by what she's wearing_

_Just how many heads I'm tearing _

_Off of assholes comin on to her_

_Each night seems like it's getting worse_

_And I wish she'd take the night off_

_So I don't have to bite off_

_Every asshole comin on to her_

_It happens every night she works_

_They'll go and ask the DJ_

_Find out just what will she say_

_If they all try comin on to her_

_Don't they know it's never gonna work_

_They think they'll get inside her_

_With every drink they buy her_

_As they all try comin on to her_

_This time somebody's getting hurt_

_Here comes the next contestant_

_Is that_

_Your hand_

_On my_

_Girlfriend_

_Is that_

_Your hand_

_I wish you'd do it again_

_I'll watch you leave here limping_

_I wish you'd do it again_

_I'll watch you leave here limping_

_There goes the next contestant_

Even I had to admit that Jasper's little performance was pretty hot, and obviously Alice agreed. His almost over protective song choice proved to be too much for her, and she dragged him out to the car.

After Jasper, it was time for Rose,

_I just want you close_

_Where you can stay forever_

_You can be sure_

_That it will only get better_

_You and me together_

_Through the days and nights_

_I don't worry cause _

_Everything's gonna be alright_

_People keep talkin_

_They can say what they like_

_But all I know is_

_Everything's gonna be all right_

_No one_

_No one_

_No one_

_Can get in the way of what I'm feelin_

_No one _

_No one_

_No one_

_Can get in the way of what I feel for you_

_You_

_You_

_Can get in the way of what I feel for you_

I was pretty surprised at her more sentimental song choice, but she had been acting kind of strange lately. I wasn't at all surprised by Emmett's song choice; he's always been a dork.

_Lady_

_When you're with me I'm smiling_

_Give me_

_All your love_

_Your hands_

_Build me up when I'm sinking_

_Touch me_

_And my troubles all fade_

_Lady_

_From the moment I saw you_

_Standing _

_All alone_

_You gave_

_All the love that I needed_

_So shy_

_Like a child you have grown_

_You're my_

_Lady_

_Of the morning_

_Love shines_

_In your eyes_

_Sparkling _

_Clear and lovely_

_You're my lady_

Edward and I were cracking up by the time Emmett had finished, and when he got to our table he swept Rose into a dramatic embrace, kiss and all. Then it was my turn. Luckily for me, I had managed to create a karaoke version of a song from my newest album, the song inspired by Edward. I was nervous about people's reactions, well, one person's reaction.

_Comparisons are_

_Easily done once you've_

_Had a taste of _

_Perfection_

_Like an apple hanging from a tree_

_I picked the_

_Ripest one_

_I still_

_Got a seed_

_You said move on_

_Where do I go?_

_I guess_

_Second best_

_Is all I will know_

_Cause when I'm with him I am_

_Thinking of you_

_Thinking of you_

_What you would do if_

_You were the one who was_

_Spending the night_

_Oh I wish that I_

_Was looking into your eyes_

_You're like an Indian summer in the _

_Middle of winter like a_

_Hard candy with a_

_Surprise center_

_How do I get better once I've had the best?_

_You said there's _

_Tons of fish in the water_

_So the waters I will test_

_He kissed my lips I taste your mouth_

_He pulled me in I was disgusted with myself_

_Cause when I'm with him I am_

_Thinking of you_

_Thinking of you_

_What you would do if_

_You were the one who was_

_Spending the night_

_Oh I wish that I_

_Was looking into_

_You're the best_

_And yes_

_I do regret_

_How I let myself_

_Let you go_

_Now _

_Now the lesson's learned_

_I touched and I was burned_

_Oh I_

_Think you_

_Should know_

_Cause when I'm with him I am_

_Thinking of you_

_Thinking of you_

_What you would do if_

_You were the one who was_

_Spending the night_

_Oh I wish that I_

_Was looking into your _

_Your eyes_

_Looking into your eyes_

_Looking into your eyes_

_Oh won't you walk through_

_And bust in the door and_

_Take me away_

_Oh_

_No more mistakes_

_Cause in your eyes I'd like to _

_Stay_

I locked eyes with Edward as I finished, and his eyes held a mixture of love and sadness. When I walked off stage he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. After a few minutes he left me, still breathless, and went on stage to do his piece.

_Time is going by_

_So much faster than I_

_And I'm starting to regret not spending all of it with you_

_Now I_

_Am wondering why_

_I've kept this bottled inside_

_So I'm starting to regret not telling all of this to you_

_So if I haven't yet_

_I've gotta let you know_

_You're never gonna be alone_

_From this moment on_

_If you ever feel like letting go_

_I won't let you fall_

_You're never gonna be alone_

_I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone_

I had tears in my eyes as he finished his sweet song choice, and when he was done he came over, wrapped his arm around me, and told everybody that we were going. I had no clue where, but I was about to find out.


	17. Chapter 16

About half an hour later, Edward parked the car on the edge of the beach. He opened the door for me and held his hand out. I grabbed it, and he pulled me out of the car and into his arms. Without saying a word, he kept a hold of my hand and led me onto the beach. We both sat down on the sand and looked up at the stars.

"It's really beautiful tonight," I said after a few minutes, breaking the silence.

"Maybe. But the woman next to me is more beautiful than any star I've ever seen." He answered, and although it was so cheesy, I had to smile at his sweet comment.

"I don't know what woman you're talking about," I teased, "is there someone with us that I don't know about?" Instead of replying, he laid down and rolled me over on top of his chest and kissed me sweetly. As the kiss started getting deeper, he paused and pulled away. I pouted my lip at him, and he gave me one more peck before he sat up, me still on his lap.

"Bella, there's something I have to talk to you about," he said, looking very serious. I automatically tensed up, and my heart started pounding so hard I thought it would fly out of my chest. "Not something bad!" he added quickly, and I calmed down.

"Alright then, tell me," I said, looking up at him through my eyelashes, hoping he would get the hint and kiss me again.

He groaned, "Bella, I can't concentrate when you give me that look, cut it out for a minute please!" I sighed and moved back onto the sand.

He looked at me again with a strange look in his eyes. It was hard to figure out how he was feeling with the whirlwind of emotions flashing through them. There was sadness, love, passion, longing, guilt, and nervousness. He stood up, pulling me with him, and started to speak,

"Bella, first of all I want to tell you again that I am so, so sorry for upsetting you so much. I know I was so stupid, but I can promise you that I will never go back to that stuff again. Anyway, I also wanted to tell you just how much I love you. You are the first thing I think about when I wake up every morning and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. Anytime I'm with you I feel like I could walk on clouds. When I'm with you you're the only one I can see, everyone else just fades into the background. Bella, lately, I've been imagining my future, and I've realized that without you there is no future for me. I know that I couldn't live without you, and I really hope that I'll never have to. What I'm trying to ask you is," he paused as he got down on one knee and pulled something out of his jacket, "Isabella Swan, will you marry me?"

Tears filled my eyes as my knees started to shake, and all I could do was nod because my throat was so choked up no words could escape. His smile was the biggest I'd ever seen, and he slipped the beautiful diamond ring on my finger. Then he stood up and wrapped his arms around me, kissing my forehead, nose, eyes, cheeks, and finally, my lips.

The next morning I rolled over and smiled as I saw Edward sleeping next to me, his smile still spread across his face. I decided that I didn't want to wake him up, so I quietly climbed out of bed and slid on my silky black robe. Then I grabbed my cell so I could call Alice, knowing that she would kill me if I didn't include her in the wedding planning.

After a few rings she picked up. "Hey Bella, what's going on? You never call me this early," she said with a yawn.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I have some news to share with you," I replied, too happy to be deterred by her obvious sleep deprivation.

"Yeah?"

"You know how Edward and I left early last night?"

"Yeah, Rose told me and Jazz when we went back in."

"Well, he decided to take me to the beach. After this long, beautiful speech, he proposed!" I squealed.

"What? Oh my gosh Bella! Oh my gosh! That's amazing, incredible, wow!"

"I know! So I was wondering if you wanted to help me plan," I replied, and she practically squeaked with happiness.

"Of course! I'd love to," I heard her say, and then I became distracted as I felt Edward's lips press against my neck. They made a trail up to my jaw, and then from ear to ear. He paused when his lips were right under mine, and he gazed up at me with an innocent look. I interrupted Alice's excited plan-making.

"Alice, listen, I've got to go," I managed to get out as Edward continued his assault on my neck and chest. She giggled knowingly and hung up. I dropped the phone and pulled Edward's face up to mine, wrapping my arms around his neck and tangling my fingers in his silky bronze hair. He picked me up, and after I wrapped my legs around his waist he carried me back into the bedroom, somehow managed to not run into anything as he kept his lips firmly pressed to mine.


	18. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: I put the link to Bella's ring on my profile. Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews! Please keep reviewing, there's still a lot more story to tell! Reviews = motivation!**

A week later, Alice already had me planning most of the details of my wedding.

"We need to be prepared and organized," she insisted that morning as she lugged a duffle bag full of books, magazines, and brochures all containing information about weddings into my apartment.

"Prepared and organized doesn't mean that we need twenty pounds worth of paper that's supposed to help plan this thing!" I argued as I ran over to help her set the bag on the glass coffee table in my living room. She just gave me a weird look and shook her head.

"Sweetie, just quiet down and let me plan! You're only here to pick out colors and all of the other specific details. I'm the one that's going to be doing all of the real work. All you have to do is answer a few simple questions; I'll take care of the rest." She said, switching into business mode as she sat down and started shuffling through the various brochures for different places to have receptions.

"Wait, stop right there and drop those brochures!" I screeched, running over to grab them from her. She held on tight as I tried to tear them from her grip, giving me a look of pure horror.

"You're not having a reception?" she asked in shock.

"You goofball, of course I'm having a reception! Edward and I already agreed that the actual ceremony and the reception were both going to be at his parent's mansion, back in Washington. He asked his parents before he even proposed, and they were completely fine with it." I replied, and she immediately dropped everything and moved on to the color scheme.

"What season do you want it to happen in? That will play a major part in the color scheme." She asked.

"Edward and I have agreed on a date, it will be on April 27."

"What?!? That's only about a month and a half away! What were you two thinking?" she yelped.

"That's actually perfect; we want the wedding to be as simple as possible." I replied calmly, flipping through a magazine full of wedding dresses.

She started to argue, but the look I gave her shut her up. "Alright then, what colors would you prefer?"

"I was thinking maybe a light and bright green for the bridesmaid dresses, and dusty pink roses, white orchids, and white lilies for my bouquet, just the roses for the bridesmaids."

"That's actually a great idea!" she said with a shocked look on her face. I was a little offended, but chose to ignore it.

As she started looking through magazines full of bridesmaid dresses, she decided to try to slip in a question nonchalantly.

"So, who do you want for your bridal party?"

"Well," I said without looking up from the magazine I was flipping through, "I was thinking Jaquie for the maid of honor, since I've known her since preschool. For bridesmaids, I was thinking you and Rose."

Her face brightened as she heard herself mentioned. "You want me to be one of your bridesmaids!?!"

"Of course, I mean, you have been my friend since we were in middle school."

"Thank you so much!" she squeaked as she shot up and crushed me in a hug. I laughed as I hugged her back.

"You're welcome," I replied, and then she bounced back over to the piles of papers.

"Alright," she started, back to her business voice, "we need to schedule dates for you to choose the cake and food, and then we need to find a florist, a photographer, and hair and makeup people. We definitely need to find the dresses and tuxes as soon as possible. Then we need to get decorations and," I cut her off in the middle of her frantic planning.

"Alice, calm down." She stopped talking and looked at me, surprised by my commanding tone. "Breathe," she sucked in a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Good job. Now, just make a list. That way we'll be more organized and efficient."

She immediately grabbed a pen and notebook paper, writing everything down. While she worked on the list I went into the kitchen and made each of us a Cosmo.

As I was making them, I glanced at my ring. I remembered being a little upset with Edward at first; I knew it must have cost him a fortune. He just reminded me that it wasn't a problem for him, because when his grandfather died a few years ago, he left Edward basically his entire fortune, since he was his only grandson. That left Edward so well off that he could afford to live a life of luxury and never have to work again, but Edward wasn't like that. He kept his job as a photographer, so he was making even more money on top of what his grandpa gave him. To sum it up, he had no problem with buying me expensive things (to my extreme dislike).

Rose had examined the ring a few days after he proposed, and told me that along with the gold and diamond definitely being real, the diamond was about two carats. I was, needless to say, shocked. I just decided to ignore the fact, I didn't want to seem ungrateful by yelling at Edward for buying me something so expensive.

"Wait," I said as I walked back into the living room, glasses in hand, "when did you plan your wedding? Have you even decided on a date yet?"

"Of course silly! Everything has been planned for awhile! I finished planning about a month after he proposed! The date is April 5th of next year. That way, Rose can have her baby and have time to get back in shape. You know how she feels about looking good for pictures."

"That's true. She's due some time in September, right? I mean, didn't she say that the doctor said that she's been pregnant since the beginning of January?"

"Yeah. Which means that she may start showing a little by the time your wedding happens."

"Barely," I replied, "not enough to be noticeable."

"I guess. Anyway, back to planning. I'll worry about most of the boring stuff. We, as in us four girls, should go shopping for the dress, shoes, lingerie, and clothes tomorrow morning."

I groaned. "Fine. Even though I hate waking up early, I'll go. Only because you are doing most of the planning for my, so I've got to pay you back somehow."

"Good," she replied, and then we immersed ourselves in wedding planning.

The next morning, my alarm woke me up at seven. I groaned when I remembered that I was going to be forced to go shopping.

I managed to get out of bed a few minutes later. I took a shower, and then pulled my hair up in a ponytail. I pulled on a black t-shirt and jean shorts. Then I went out into the kitchen to make myself some coffee.

Alice arrived after I'd finished my second cup. When I saw her car pull up to the curb, I grabbed my stuff and walked out the door.

When Jaquie, Rose, Alice, and I arrived at the mall, they immediately dragged me into Victoria's Secret.

"Try these on," Alice said, shoving a pile of lingerie into my arms. I stomped into the nearest dressing room. I picked up a red corset and immediately put it in the reject pile.

By the time I'd finished, the reject pile was surprisingly about the same size as the pile I was going to buy.

I ended up with a sapphire blue bra and boyshort set, a white mid-thigh-length silk nightgown, a plum colored bustier and boyshort set, a black bra and boyshort set, and a pale pink short-shorts and tank pajama set.

I was relieved when I was allowed to leave that store. I was the one who dragged everyone into the next store, American Eagle. Alice gave me a confused glance, so I explained.

"I want to at least be somewhat comfortable!"

I ended up picking out a few pairs of jeans, some soft cotton boxer shorts, hoodies, racerback tank tops, and two cute bikinis.

Next we went to Bath and Body Works, where I bought basically the whole Midnight Pomegranate collection. Then onto Barnes and Noble, where I picked up a few new books.

The girls all became hyperactive as they dragged me into a store full of various purses and shoes. I ended up buying a Coach purse and a cute luggage set. I also grabbed a few pairs of strappy pumps, flip-flops, and my shoes that I would wear to my wedding. I decided on a simple pair of white strappy heels.

Next they dragged me into some big fancy department store where I purchased a few casual dresses, skirts, and tops.

Finally, we all practically ran to the Porsche to put our bags in so we could go to a beautiful little designer bridal boutique. When we got there, we all darted inside and started pulling dresses off the racks.

After about half an hour, I found the dress. My perfect wedding dress. I immediately darted into a dressing room to try it on.

It was beautiful. The skirt was the ball gown style, made of some very silky and incredibly soft fabric. The top was corset style, lacing up in the back and covered in a beautiful pattern of Swarovski crystals.

I stepped out of the dressing room, and my friends all gasped as I turned around. They ran over to me, giggling and shrieking.

"Oh my gosh Bella, it's perfect!" Jaquie cried as she played with the fluffy skirt, and Rose made me spin in a circle to see how it looked at all angles. Alice just looked at me, and after a minute I realized that there were tears in her eyes.

I ran over to give her a hug. "What's wrong?"

"You're getting married. You really are. To my cousin. We'll be cousins-in-law!"

I smiled as I hugged her again. "You're getting married too, silly! By the way, where's your dress?"

She grinned and led me over to the desk. "Can I get my dress out for a minute?"

"Name please." The woman asked.

"Alice Brandon."

Once the woman handed her the garment bag, she took it into the dressing room to put it on. When she came out, I was stunned by her beauty. She was practically glowing as she spun around for us.

Her dress was a more slim shape, not all poufy like mine. It was very dainty, with spaghetti straps and lots of little crystals dotted all over it.

I led her over to the mirrors and we stood next to each other, admiring each other's dresses.

After a few minutes, we both took them off. Alice handed hers back to the lady at the desk, and led me to a woman who was supposed to fit my dress.

After about an hour of having my dress hemmed, sown, cut, etc., I was finally allowed to leave. I practically collapsed as I sat down in the front seat of the Porsche, and we drove back to my apartment.

"So," Alice began, "are we all in agreement that we should go to Bella's, order takeout, and have a movie marathon?" Everyone agreed, and the ride home was quiet as we all (except Alice, who was still on a shopping high) struggle to stay awake.

I was practically drooling as I dug into my garlic chicken. After we ordered takeout, we'd all gotten a virgin pina colada (for the sake of Rose and her baby) and decided on the movie marathon having a romance theme.

Troy was first, and we all went from drooling over our food to drooling over Brad Pitt as he showed up on screen, huge muscles rippling.

By the end we were all crying, passing around a box of Kleenex. Next we decided on Titanic.

Once that was over, we had gone through a whole box of Kleenex, and I had to dig around under my bathroom sink until I found another.

As I walked back in with the box of tissues, I saw the main menu for Dirty Dancing pop up.

I dove back onto my spot on the couch, watching Baby and her family pull up to the place where her summer of lovin would occur. I'd watched the movie too many times, and the girls kept having to shush me as I said the lines along with the actors.

After that came The Notebook and, yet again, we were all balling like babies at the end.

For the last one, we decided on a childhood classic. We curled up on the floor in front of the TV with pillows and blankets. We all ended up falling asleep, Sleeping Beauty playing in the background.


	19. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: The girls' wedding dresses are now on my profile. Please tell me if you like them or not! Also, this is basically just a filler chapter. I'm trying to finish up the story, so I'm just trying to wrap things up a bit.**

I groaned as I stretched and tried to work the knots out of my back. I looked over and laughed as I saw the girls still asleep in a pile next to me.

I tip-toed to the kitchen, where I made a pot of coffee. Just as I started the machine, I heard a knock on the door. When I opened it, I was surprised to see Emmett standing on the other side.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked, trying to keep my voice down.

"I just came to pick up Rose; she has another doctor's appointment today." He replied, his big smile stretched across his face. I remembered Rose telling me how much Emmett loved the doctor's appointments; apparently the baby fascinated him even more than it did her.

"Oh, okay, she's right in here." I said, leading him into the living room. He crouched down and easily lifted her into his arms. She didn't even stir. "What are you doing?"

"She hasn't been getting much sleep lately, so I just figured that I'd let her keep sleeping for awhile." He said sweetly. I smiled at him, and then ran ahead to open the door for him. I waved at him as he waited for the elevator, and he smiled at me again.

I decided to go back in to check on my coffee, which was done. As I sat on one of the barstools at the counter, I thought. It was crazy to me that Emmett could go from being annoying one minute to being incredibly sweet the next. I just shook my head and moved on to other thoughts.

I thought about my fast approaching wedding, and how exciting it was to finally be getting married to the love of my life. I loved my dress, and I loved the flowers Alice and I had picked out the day before. We'd also picked out the bridesmaid dresses, and all three girls loved them. I was so glad to have so many people helping me and supporting me. I felt so loved, if that makes any sense.

As I was daydreaming about my wedding, I heard the other two starting to wake up. They both eventually walked into the kitchen to join me, rubbing their eyes and stretching. They each gave me a half-smile as I handed them cups of coffee.

"Where's Rose?" Alice asked after a few minutes.

"Emmett came to take her to her appointment. He was so excited, it's definitely easy to tell that the baby is going to have very loving and involved parents. I mean, if it's a boy, Emmett is going to be thrilled. He'll have a football in its hand once it can walk! And if it's a girl he is going to be the most over-protective father in the state of Washington! The poor kid would never get a boyfriend!"

"He or she will definitely be attractive though," Alice commented. "I mean, Rose is absolutely stunning, and Emmett could easily have been a male model, if he wasn't a football player. I feel bad for him though, he's going to have to be gone a lot, with work and everything."

"No he won't! Didn't Rose tell you?" I asked.

"Tell me what?"

"He agreed that once the baby was born, he was going to quit. Apparently, he's already talked to his coach about it. He's a little sad, since he's only 22, but his child is much more important to him than his job."

"Oh wow, I didn't know that! That's really cool of him!" Alice replied, and Jaquie nodded.

"Yeah," Jaquie said, "it would be kind of disappointing, I'm definitely surprised. He's only been in the NFL for two years; it's too bad he has to end his career before it has time to get even better!"

"I don't think he minds too much, I mean, he's the one who wanted Rose to get pregnant in the first place." I replied.

"True," Jaquie said, and we all went back to drinking our coffee. "I'm definitely happy that I didn't have to stop writing when I adopted Nichole though. I wouldn't have been able to support us without the money I was earning."

"I highly doubt that, your first three books were all best-sellers! You could probably live the rest of your life comfortably with just what you earn from them." Alice replied, and I just smiled.

"I guess, but it still is nice to have a steady income. Just because I could live comfortably without working doesn't mean that I want to! I would be so bored without my writing!"

"If you say so," Alice said. "I guess you are right in a way though, I couldn't live without my designing."

"Exactly," Jaquie said smugly, and, having proven her point, went back to drinking her coffee.

Once the coffee was completely finished, the girls decided to go home. Well, Alice decided to go home, Jaquie decided to go visit Jake.

She blushed as I raised my eyebrows. "What are your intentions with my big brother?" I asked in one of those old Western man voices. Her face got even more red with my words.

"Nothing! He was just babysitting Nichole last night, so since I already had to go over there I decided to visit with him for awhile." I laughed as she stuttered, seeming oddly nervous for just wanting to visit.

"Calm down Jaquie, I really don't mind. Seriously though, do you like him? Don't lie, you know I'll see right through it."

She nodded, and I laughed. "Wow, that would actually be really cool! You'd be my sister-in-law!" She practically choked on the breath she was taking.

"I'm not planning on marrying him you insane person!" she said, and I laughed harder. She just looked so panicked, I couldn't help it.

"I know, I know. I wouldn't mind having a few nieces and nephews though…" I continued, and she just glared at me.

"You already have a niece, Nichole! Don't push your luck." I just shrugged.

"Whatever. I bet you guys will give me plenty more nieces and nephews, it won't take any luck on my part." She just shook her head and walked out the door.

I smiled as I shut it behind her, thinking about how cute she and Jake would look together. I knew that it hadn't been long since Leah died, but I know that she wanted him to continue to have a life, even without her. As I thought, I heard a knock on the door. I squealed as I opened it.

"Hello love," Edward said, pulling me into his arms. I hugged him back, inhaling his very manly scent.

"Hi." I replied anticlimactically. He chuckled and kissed the tip of my nose. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, just felt like visiting my absolutely gorgeous fiancé. Is that a crime?" I didn't reply, just led him into the living room. He looked curiously at all of the blankets and pillows on the floor.

"Oh, sorry! The girls ended up staying over last night, and we all fell asleep out here," I explained as I started picking everything up. He just pulled me onto the couch with him.

"Don't worry about it, I was just curious. I have better ideas for things we can do," he replied, and started nuzzling my neck. I giggled, pushing him away. He looked at me with a hurt look, puppy dog eyes and all.

"What's wrong Bella?" he whined.

"Nothing you big goofball, I just felt like doing something besides that."

"What would be more fun than that?"

"I didn't say it would be more fun, I just said I'd rather do it." He looked at me with a confused look, and I just laughed.

"Oh, honey, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?"

"Tell me what?" he asked with a look of panic.

"I decided that there is to be no more sexin 'til the wedding!"

"What!?!" he squeaked with a look of horror on his face.

I started to laugh, and he just kept looking at me like I was a raging lunatic. I couldn't breathe, and I had tears streaming down my face. When I could finally catch my breath, I managed to reply. "I'm sorry, it's just, your expression is freaking hilarious!" I said, still gasping. "Anyway, I just decided that we should wait, I figure it will make everything much better later."

"Um, I guess so," he said, looking like he was going to cry. I immediately felt bad, but then he grinned mischievously. "We can do anything but though, right?"

"Yeah, definitely!" I replied, and his grin got even bigger. He immediately started rubbing his hand up and down my thigh, each time letting it go higher before bringing it back to my knee. He placed butterfly kisses up the side of my neck, and I felt my breath catch.

I realized his plan, and pushed him away. "Nope, I'm not going to budge. Nothing you do will convince me, I am dead set on waiting, especially after the little stunt you just pulled!" I scolded. His face immediately returned to horror when he realized that his plan had failed.

"But wait! That's not fair! I won't survive! Don't I have any say in this!?!" he asked desperately. I shook my head, grinning widely.

"I never realized that you were so dramatic! I'm just waiting for the waterworks to start, they'll happen soon at this rate." I teased. He just sighed, shaking his head.

"Whatever you say Bella. So, what was it that you wanted to do?"

"I was thinking that we should go rent movies and have another movie marathon. The girls and I stayed up really late last night, I'm too tired to do anything else."

"Alright, but no chick flicks! This will be an action movie marathon," he demanded, and I nodded in agreement.


	20. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: Alright guys, this is the final chapter. I decided to skip writing the wedding, because I would suck at it and because we all already know how it goes. This is the epilogue, please enjoy! Also, I just want to thank all of my loyal fans that have stuck with me throughout the whole process even though I tend to go forever without posting! Also, thanks to my amazing friends, AllyNikki and Concrete Angel 2012, who kept me from going crazy while I was going through my many bouts of writers block! Now, on to the story.**

I lovingly looked on as Ben, Noah, and Leo, my and Edward's triplets, ran across the yard, chasing Grace, Alice and Jasper's little girl. Rose and Emmett's son Troy decided to join in, along with Nichole and little Wyatt, both of which were Jaquie and Jake's kids.

Rose's youngest child, Delilah, sat in the grass having a tea party with Anna, my youngest. Jaquie was holding her one year old daughter, Cadence, and was talking to the rest of us girls.

The guys were all standing around the grill as Emmett struggled to prevent the burgers and hotdogs from burning. I laughed as he dropped a hotdog on his foot, but Rose slapped him on the back of the head as he started swearing.

All four boys walked over to sit with us after they managed to make a plate for everyone. We let the kids play for a few minutes, the food needed to cool for a minute anyway.

I smiled when Jake grabbed little baby Sam out of the playpen. They had just adopted him from Africa, and he was the sweetest little baby I'd ever met. He almost never cried, and he already slept through the night.

Edward handed me my food, and I balanced it on my very pregnant stomach. "Edward, just to let you know, this is it. As in, I will not be having anymore children after the girls are born," I said demandingly, and he just chuckled as he sat on the ground next to me.

"Ha Bells, you guys have practically been popping out kids every few minutes! You guys will be up to six once the twins are born, and I can't see you stopping anytime soon after that!" Emmett teased, and I stuck my tongue out at him. Edward just rubbed my stomach tenderly, ignoring Emmett's comment.

Everyone became quiet after that. We had all moved to a little town named Forks after Rose and Emmett had Troy, and we loved it. We had also gone out and each adopted a dog, much to Jake's delight.

Edward and I had a beautiful pure white husky with blue eyes named Silver, Rose and Emmett got a German Shepherd named Daisy, Alice and Jasper got a collie named Pepper, and Jake and Jaquie got a golden retriever named Ginger. The dogs all did a great job of taking care of the kids, chasing off any strange person or animal who got too close.

"Alright guys, time to eat!" Rose called, and all of the kids dashed over to the table and into their spots.

"So Bella, have you guys thought of any names yet?" Alice asked.

"Well, we were thinking Kate and Megan," I replied.

"I definitely agree with those names, they are cute!" Jaquie said excitedly. I smiled.

The conversation continued until the kids all fell asleep. We all said our goodbyes, loaded up the cars, and went home.

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm really sorry if that sucked! I just wanted to show that everyone was living comfortably and having lots of kids (Bella!). So I guess this is it, again, thanks for the kind reviews and for adding me to you favorites and alerts! Please let me know what you thought overall! **

**~Ash**

**P.S. Review and let me know if you guys would like me to write a few one-shots about any events in this story from any point-of-view. If I feel that I can do a good job writing it, I will.**


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